The Gospel of Eli
by PedroPesh
Summary: A possible continuation to the events of Stargate Universe season 2 finale, Gauntlet; in which Col Young awakens from his stasis pod to find both the crew and the Destiny gone.
1. Chapter 1

The Gospel of Eli

Chapter 1

The Stasis pod door slid closed over Doctor Nicholas Rush, he stood with his eyes closed and hands clasped in front of him. The machine hummed into life and his breathing stopped, his body became stock still. A blue haze quickly filled the pod giving the illusion that it was filled with ice. The process complete Young turned to Eli and asked him

'You sure about this?' Eli's face took on a serious look.

'I've never been more sure of anything in my life.' He replied, his face let a smile out and he held his hand out to Young, who ignored it instead pulling Eli into an embrace.

'You're a good man Eli.' He said as they pulled apart. 'You'll get this done, I'll see you on the other side.'

'Right.' Said Eli breaking into another grin.

'Right.' Replied Young, who turned and stepped into his own pod. Eli pressed the start button and the door slid down on him.

...

And then the door slid open.

Cold. That penetrated right to his core. Young drew in a long torturous breath and stepped out of the pod. Instantly his legs gave way and he fell forwards his freezing numb arms managing to catch the side of a table to break his fall. He lay there half slumped on the floor his breath shallow and rapid, his body shaking violently, his vision blurred. Muted sounds seemed to be all around him as if he was hearing voices underwater. The room he was in was small and circular and dark, definitely not the room he was in when he and the crew entered their pods.

The other pods!

The thought hit him like a bullet where were the other pods? He shook his head trying clear his vision, when the door at the far side of the room opened with a loud mechanical whir. In walked two aliens tall, their bodies shaped like twisted parodies of men, jaws filled with razor sharp teeth, their heads dominated by large soulless black eyes. They advanced on him with a hideous shrieking.

Young, his reactions taking over from his fear lunged at the first one but his body betrayed him and he fell short on unsteady legs. The aliens jumped him pinning him face down on the cold metal floor. Young felt a needle in his neck and immediately numbness spread throughout his body, as consciousness left him he looked at the table that had supported him, it was made of wood, there wasn't any wooden furniture on Destiny. That was his last thought as the darkness swallowed him up.

And then he opened his eyes.

Coming to twice in a couple of minutes was a disorientating experience. The cold of his previous emergence had gone, to be replaced by a sharp headache. Young raised his hands to his face. Or tried to do, his arms appeared stuck and a glance down showed he was lying horizontal on a bed with some very secure leather straps on his wrists keeping his hands down by his waist.

'You're awake then' said a female voice.

Young turned his head to the left where a young woman sat in a wicker chair next to his bed. She was slim, brunette with youthful pretty features. The room they were in was small with no features aside from the door, the chair and the bed he was currently strapped to. Of the two horrific aliens there was no sign. Young asked her the first of the many questions flying around his head.

'Where am I?' The young woman eyes seemed to search his face as if she was having a hard time concentrating on him, finally she replied

'The science vessel, Harro'than'.

A ship thought Young; he was no longer on Destiny.

'Where's my crew' he asked. Again her eyes took in his features.

'Before I answer any more questions I have one for you' she said, her expression suddenly serious. Young nodded in acquiescence.

'Are you really Colonel Everett Young, commander of the Destiny?' Young nodded.

'Yes I am and I want to know where my crew is?' The woman's face lit up as he said this.

'I knew it, I knew it was you everything matches, your face, your location, the Gospel of Eli is true it's all true!'

None of this made sense to Young. It was all wrong, like a bad dream. He should be on Destiny, waking up to his crew, his family ready to start the next phase of their mission. Not here, not tied to a bed with some woman he'd never met. Anger flared in his chest and he strained at the restraints keeping him tied down.

'Get me off this bed!' he shouted at the suddenly shocked woman. 'Get me off this bed and tell me where my crew is!' She backed away from him in obvious fear and ran to a small control panel by the door.

'Doctor' she said pressing a button and holding her mouth close to the panel. 'He's awake and agitated; I think you should come down here'. Then without another word she walked quickly out of the room leaving Young by himself.

Young lay there turning the situation over in his mind trying to keep the rising panic away. He was no longer on Destiny that much seemed clear; when he awoke it wasn't the same room so his whole pod must have been moved. Clearly Eli's plan to simply skip the dangerous part of the voyage hadn't worked and now he had been kidnapped by either aliens with human servants or possibly even the other way round. Eli! He thought, that's what she had said "The Gospel of Eli". Perhaps Eli was here, there were too many unanswered questions. But he had to keep it together, presumably the rest of the crew had been similarly captured, he needed to survive long enough to work out what had happened, long enough to save the others it was his duty.

The door opened again and in walked the young woman, this time she was accompanied by a much older man. He was in his late 50's by the looks of him, his short hair turning quickly to grey, he was tall at least 6 foot and walked with a steady measured gait. He sat down on the wicker chair previously occupied by his female companion and spoke to Young.

'Colonel please forgive the restraints, my orders I'm afraid. You attacked two of my men I couldn't be sure of your mental state until you awoke'. Young glared at the newcomer angrily.

'Your men? You mean the two creatures that attacked me!'

The older man looked momentarily puzzled then regained his composure.

'The "Creatures" are called Alex and Hussein, and they are as human as myself. I dare-say you suffered a hallucination, not uncommon, considering the amount of time you have allegedly been in stasis.'

This threw Young's train of thought for a second.

'Amount of time?' he said 'How long have I been under?'

'Approximately 450 years, I'm sorry' said the man quietly meeting Young's gaze.

This barely seemed to register to Young. 450 years, then everyone he knew on Earth was dead, long dead; Jack O'Neil, Colonel Telford, his wife Emily. Everyone. He lay there looking at the man the horror clearly evident on his face.

'Colonel, my name is Doctor Michael Harding, this is Callie Wilson' said the man indicating the young woman still standing nervously by his side. 'We have found you by following a hidden set of instructions in a book we call the Gospel of Eli. After we entered the complex your pod was in, an automated system activated the revival process. I would have much preferred to have woken you to more pleasant surroundings.'

Young struggled to maintain his composure in this nightmare scenario and asked again.

'Where is my crew?'

Doctor Harding leant back in his chair and shrugged.

'The simple answer Colonel is that I don't know. The only pods here were yours and an empty one. Whoever was in there had left long before we arrived.'

Young nodded, Harding appeared to be telling the truth he was relaxed and kept his gaze straight at Young's eyes.

'What's the Gospel of Eli then?' He asked 'Is it Eli Wallace? Is he here?'

'The great Eli Wallace died some 400 years ago Colonel. The Gospel of Eli are effectively his memoirs, or at least the memoirs he was allowed to publish by the Collective' said Harding.

'The Collective?' asked Young.

Harding sighed

'Callie undo his restraints.' Callie moved to Young's bed and began to untie the leather straps binding him to the bed. 'I think I can save us both a lot of to and fro if I explain the events of 450 years ago.'

Young sat up and rubbed his now free wrists and gestured for the Doctor to continue.

'Around 450 years ago our civilisation was at the brink of destruction. As I am sure you have guessed by now we are descendants of a previous Destiny crew. The same people you encountered at the destruction of Novus. The majority of our people were crammed into sub-light star ships headed for the nearest off world colony. This would have taken us more than 200 years to complete with no guarantee of success. Other colonies had one by one started to succumb to natural disasters borne of their host planets. Others were being eradicated by automated drones that would descend from space and annihilate any settlement they found without mercy. We call this era the Dark Times, suddenly out of nowhere one of the first ancestors appeared to the colony Dapricord. It was Eli Wallace, alone on the mighty star ship Destiny. Dapricord was under attack from a Drone Ship for weeks they had been hiding in the hills of its northern continent, slowly but surely they were being killed off by relentless attacks. Destiny was armed with a weapon that had never been seen before in a single moment it had deactivated both the Drone Mothership and the Drone fighters. Eli had saved the people of Dapricord. He took many of them aboard as his crew and led them into combat with other Drone ships attacking our colonies. One by one they fell before the power of Destiny. Once they were disabled newly trained engineers boarded them, installed life support systems and began to crew them. For every Mothership that fell, our fleet gained a new one. Once they had been defeated Eli used the Destiny to track down the Novus sub-light ships. It took him weeks of searching vast distances but he found them and carried them to the colony world Era. There they set up the Collective, a new government to govern over all the humans over all the colonies. The Drone Motherships became our navy, our commercial vehicles and our hope for salvation a great gift from Eli Wallace.'

Here Harding paused.

'At least that's the fairytale we tell our children at bedtime. The truth is there are many of us that believed it's not quite true. Take yourself Colonel where were you? Or anyone else? The historical records show a large number of people lived on Destiny, where were they all when Eli rode the Destiny against the Mothership on Dapricord? Eli was a scientist, founded our educational system developed a great many innovations in the years after he saved us. But he wasn't a warrior.'

Young interrupted him.

'So what do you think happened?' he asked.

'I believe, as do many others following the Gospel of Eli that Eli was just a figurehead, I'm sure he came up with a way to stop the Drones and he certainly advanced our culture during his time with us. However the Collective was the true power behind the expansion and Drone War. I believe that they forced Eli to do these things they had some way to keep him in line and following their policies. The gospel he wrote, as I said before were his memoirs. But they contain a lot of metaphor and double meanings, I believe that it was his way of trying to show us the truth, and you my dear Colonel are the final proof of this theory.'

Young was bewildered, this was a lot for him to take in and his headache was making it that much harder.

'Final proof' he asked. 'How am I the final proof?'

Harding smiled and became more excited, more animated.

'Because Eli told us where to find you. Hidden in his writings, you are "The Lion and the Sword" and you have been found "Under the Tainted Sun".'

Young shook his head.

'I don't understand what this means.' He said

Harding stood up and helped the Colonel to his still unsteady feet.

'I know you don't Colonel, I know you don't. But I promise I can explain it in more detail. Better yet I can show you. But not now, as strange as it may seem considering where you have just been, you need sleep.' He helped walk the Colonel out of the door and into a corridor lit by florescent lights spaced evenly along the ceiling, Callie following in their wake.

'I have had some quarters made up for you, sleep now and when you wake up you'll be far better prepared to understand the rest of the story.' Said Harding.

Their footsteps echoed down the metal floor of the corridor after a couple of turns Doctor Harding touched a button next to a door which slid instantly open to reveal a much larger room. This one had far more comforts than the previous. With a table, chairs computer terminal even the walls had been painted a brighter colour, a very light yellow. There was also a bed, a proper bed with blankets and sheets and pillows. When Young saw it he realised how tired he really was, it was an ache that seemed to run to his very bones a wave of weariness washed over him. He was led unresisting to the bed where he lay on it gratefully. Harding and Callie went back to the door and as they left Harding turned back to him and said.

'Tomorrow Colonel I promise I will show you the Gospel of Eli. Then you will see exactly what I mean.' With that he closed the door which slid down with a metallic hum.

Young lay on the bed his mind buzzing with the information he'd just received. How Eli have done this to them he thought. Surely Eli would have woken them up if he'd discovered a way to stop the Drones with such apparent ease. His mind jumped to another train of thought. 450 years, that would make the year somewhere around the 25th century. Young wondered what sort of a place Earth was now. Doubtless the existence of the Stargate had long since been revealed to the public. Young supposed whole worlds had been colonised by the people of Earth. The feeling of sleep was fast overtaking him now and he let these thoughts drift away as his head sank into the pillow. Then there was a buzzing sound he looked up and there at the foot of his bed were dozens of tiny coloured of lights, as he watched they began to spin around each other like tiny solar systems. They started to break apart dividing as they span around faster and faster dozens became hundreds became thousands. Suddenly they all blurred together and sat at the foot of his bed was Eli Wallace. Young gaped in amazement, Eli looked at the Colonel his face a picture of misery.

'Hello Colonel.' He said 'I guess I owe you an explanation.'

End of Chapter 1


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Young gaped at the sudden apparition of Eli Wallace. A flood of emotion crashed through him like a tsunami, after the all the information that he had received Eli's face seemed to be the only real thing in the room. He opened his mouth to express his relief that Eli was here, that everything he'd been told was a lie. Of course he wasn't 450 years into the future, the crew were fine they must be aboard Destiny. It was he Colonel Young that had somehow been captured by enemies unknown. But Eli began to speak first, his expression usually so full of mirth even in the direst of situations that they had found themselves, was now one of abject misery and defeat.

'Colonel' he began 'I can't hear or see you, and only you can see me. If there is anyone else with you please, please don't acknowledge my presence. I'm not really here at all this is a recording downloaded directly into your mind the second you left your stasis pod. I've programmed the trigger to activate me as soon as your conscious mind is at rest , I figure if the worst has happened then this'll be a long time from now, so hopefully you'll be alone before you finally let yourself relax.' Eli ran his fingers through his hair and seemed to struggle to find something to say. Young noticed he'd lost weight his expression was haggard and there were noticeably large bags under his eyes. Whatever he had been through he was clearly under a lot of stress and not getting much in the way of sleep. Finally he continued to speak.

'It's been about 3 months since I saw you last, from my perspective anyway and the ship has been taken over by our descendants, I mean the other us, from the other Destiny. Colonel its my fault, all my fault I let them on board I thought I was helping, that it was the right thing to do.' Eli held his head in his hands and his shoulders sank. He gave a deep breath and looked back up at Young, tears welling up in his eyes.

'I guess I'd better start at the beginning, maybe you can understand..'

…

450 years ago

…

Eli watched the pod door slide close over Colonel Young, the older man gave him a final nod before bowing his head. Instantly his body froze as the stasis pod did its work, the inside of the pod turned a deep blue and a frosted effect appeared on glass, and indicator light switched on telling Eli that Young was now in a state of deep cryogenic suspension.

Eli wandered through the now eerily empty ship passing the pods of his friends, he hoped fervently that he would be able to greet them all again in 3 years. His meandering took him finally to the observation deck. Where he stood and looked out over the Destiny, her ancient architecture bathed in the ethereal glow of her FTL wake as it washed over the ship casting stark shadows on her vast array of sensors and hardware. It was truly a magnificent spectacle even now over a year since the crew had found themselves marooned in a galaxy so very far away. He was such a different man to the one that first stepped through the Stargate. The times he spent with his computer, his friends, his mother seemed like another lifetime ago. He allowed a small smile to creep over his face, once again he had a problem to solve and only 2 weeks to do it in, after a final glance out of the window he made his away to the control interface room and back to work.

It was only after eight days of slowly mounting worry that he began to make some headway, after a very through diagnostic program of his own design he finally pinpointed the problem to a circuit that had blown. It was preventing the pod from completing its start-up check, everytime it tried to activate it simply died. It was a huge relief to Eli that there was a workaround, it would involve some hardware configuration and some extensive programming on his part but it could be fixed and he'd still have a couple of days to spare. He could join the crew in stasis and wake up with them in three years, he was so happy that night he broke out some of the moonshine and toasted himself on the observation deck. Tomorrow he would begin repairs, tomorrow he would yet again save himself.

Three days into the repair work and all was going well, he'd even given himself a couple of breaks in the day. On this the third day he was sat in the bridge doing a few checks on the active pods to make sure they were all operating at efficiency when a beeping at the communications console broke his reverie. Startled by the sudden noise he walked over to the panel a quick glance told him there was a subspace message picked up by Destiny. It'd be from an alien race he told himself no point even playing it he thought as he pushed the play button. Instantly a human woman's voice filled the bridge.

_'Hello? Hello? Can anyone hear me? Is anyone still out there? This is Melissa Arthur, I'm a citizen of Novus on the colony world of Dapricord. We are under attack from mechanical drones, we've been chased into the hills over the encampment. If anyone is out there please, please we need help!'_

Eli was stunned too hear this, he recognised the name Novus as the home world of their alternate selves descendants. He sat down at the console and ran a location search on the signal. It was coming from a small star cluster barely 15 light years away. Eli lent back in the chair letting the the familiar beeps and whistles of the bridge flow through him. Certainly the star cluster was on Destiny's path but what could he do to help? He was after all one man and he was soon to join the rest of the crew in suspension.

After several hours of soul searching he turned the message off and continued with his work. It was late one evening when he finally completed repairs to the pod. He plugged in the new panels and ran the code, for two heart stopping seconds nothing seemed to happen. Then the pod began to start up, Eli watched the panel on the side as the screen flickered and an Ancient symbol appeared. Eli's face split into a huge grin, he knew that symbol well "Status Active." He gave a loud cheer, he had finished, he would soon join the rest of the crew and wake up in three years ready to restart their journey. First however, he would have a little celebration.

There was still a substantial quantity of the home made moonshine still knocking about, and despite it's strong taste Eli enjoyed it immensely. Inebriated he walked down the corridors containing the pods he toasted those he found containing his friends. TJ, Chloe, Scott, Greer he greeted them all as he went past. Their eyes however stared impassively past him, their faces hollow and gaunt from the blue frozen effect inside their pods. Eli continued on his final tour and entered the bridge, he thought about what Young would say if he'd ever turn up to duty here in this state. The thought made him chuckle in his drunken haze. Then he noticed the communications console again, lit up as it informed him of an incoming subspace transmission. Since the day he'd heard Melissa's voice he'd noticed she broadcasted at the same time each day, same message each time. Destiny was now quite close to the star cluster from which the signal was being broadcast.

The day before Eli had made a long range scan of the system. It was on a planet in orbit of a small red dwarf star, which in turned orbited an even larger binary system made up of two very hot B class blue-white stars. Destiny's sensors had detected a Stargate on the planet, and naturally a Drone ship in the vicinity. The signal however was fainter than expected, Eli supposed this was because the signal was being transmitted through an atmosphere. The Drones it seemed felt it was necessary have their Mothership chase the survivors even to the planet's surface. Eli had felt a pang of guilt when he'd discovered this. If the Drones weren't so hell bent on destroying Destiny they never would have blockaded all these planets and the colonists below would never have been caught in the middle.

On this night however where Eli had been drinking he sat again at the communications console listening to Melissa's voice as she pleaded to the very heavens to help. Finally he could help himself no longer, he thought to himself what harm could a conversation do? He at least could warn her against uing technology that would attract the Drones.' He punched up the subspace transmitters and spoke into the microphone.

'Um, hello this is Eli Wallace aboard the Destiny, I hear you, I'm sorry about the Drones are you guys surviving?' There was a pause a long pause, for a minute Eli wondered if the message had even got through. Then suddenly the speakers crackled into life.

_'This is Melissa Arthur on Dapricord. Is this.' _Another pause. _'Is this really Eli Wallace, the real one I mean. The Great Ancestor?'_ Eli smiled in spite of himself, the hero worship they had received from the previous colony world had been as strange as it had been flattering.

'Yes, well kind of, its a long story. Listen I'm only passing through but I wanted to warn you, the Drones, the ones attacking you, they're attracted by technology, radios, vehicles anything that creates an EM field. You need to turn it all off then they can't track you.' He said, it was pretty poor advice he thought, considering they were a culture like themselves that used all manner of technologies for daily life. But it might just save a few lives.

_'I hear you Eli, we worked that out ourselves. We are currently holed up in a cave network that naturally blocks EM signals but we have to forage in the plains below where we are vulnerable. The Testament speaks of Destiny's possible return. If you really are on Destiny then you have weapons. There is a Drone Mothership on the planet below, it's had some kind of malfunction, it can't get airborne. It would be no threat to Destiny, you could blast it from orbit you could save us.' _Eli's guilt rose has he heard this.

'I'm sorry.' He said 'We're in no shape to fight, Destiny is too badly damaged and the rest of the crew is in stasis. We're leaving the galaxy, we can't fight the Drones.'

_'But you have to help, Eli please, there's barely 100 of us left. Every day the Drones sweep the hills and try to find us, we've moved so many times we can't hold out forever. They'll find us Eli. They'll find us and kill us. You have to help! Please! Help us!'_

Eli cut the connection and sat in the comms chair wallowing in his own self loathing. He had a greater responsibility to the crew, his crew, there was no power to spare to attack a Drone ship even if it was marooned on the planet. His mood for celebration now curbed Eli went back to his quarters and fell into an uneasy sleep.

The next morning he woke, the hangover from hell causing waves of nausea in his stomach and a rock concert of pain in his head. Today was the day he would join the crew with a clear 48 hours of time left. He went to his pod to perform final checks on its systems, which passed. He stepped in the pod and activated the countdown. He watched the clock, he barely registered that it was in Ancient, so used now he was to their number system. The clock swiftly dropped through the seconds and Eli stood ready for the doors to close, his mind still focussed on the conversation he had with Melissa the previous night.

Suddenly he stepped out of the pod and cancelled the countdown. He stood there unsure of himself. A final check he thought, I should do a final check from the bridge just to make sure that everything is OK. With his flimsy excuse in place he left the pods and made his way to the bridge. He wasn't sure which situation he feared most, that Melissa was still trying to reach him, or that she thought he was a coward and had abandoned her attempt to contact help. Entering the bridge he sat in the control chair and ran a diagnostic on the ships systems. That complete he turned his attention to the communications station and powered it back on. There he saw the receiving light blinking. Melissa must still be transmitting. He didn't now why he felt the need to continue to speak to her but he did maybe he could make understand, he did want to help, really he did. But he couldn't. He transferred the signal to the speakers and listened.

_'Hello Eli?' _Melissa's voice came through the speakers again. _'I don't know if you can hear me, I hope you can. Look I'm sorry about last night, I shouldn't have placed all that on you. It's only because we're desperate here, but I know that's not your problem. If the Testament is correct then you are a scientist, one of the best. I have spent weeks analysing the signals the drones send to each other. I've developed a program, its designed to attack and delete their central operating system. If it works it would render their ships inert, they wouldn't be able to operate. The only problem is I have no way of getting past their electronic defences, each time I've tried to deploy the program they've been able to detect it and destroy it before it reaches any critical systems. I know you can't help with Destiny but if you could just look at my work then I'd be so grateful.' _

Eli activated his own transmitter and spoke.

'Hi Melissa this is Eli, I'm still here. I'm sorry to I want you to know if I could use Destiny to help you I would. We've tried a similar approach to yours ourselves but with only limited success, but send me your data and I'll see what I can do.' He said.

_'Thank you Eli, you don't know what this means to me I'll transmit the data right away. We have to move camp again, I'll contact you again in a few hours.' _Said Melissa. Eli watched his screen and saved her data into Destiny's memory.

It was an hour later and Eli was in the control room pouring over her data. His admiration for this woman was growing with each minute. Certainly she was one of the most accomplished programmers he'd ever seen, her work was excellent and far more aggressive than that ofEli and Rush's own attempt to merely block their communications. Melissa's program worked like a virus in theory it would piggy back the drone's signals straight back to their command ship, where it would destroy the command protocols leaving the ship derelict in space. However he could see her problem. With the Drones "thinking" at machine speed their protection systems could spot the program and kill it before it could do any real damage. What she needed was a delivery system that was so complex it could adapt as fast the protection software and therefore deliver the killer code where it could do the most damage. This system would need to be really complex though as complex as a human mind and where could he find a program like that?

Suddenly it hit him, he knew exactly where he could find a system like that, in fact he had two such systems. He felt giddy as his mind ran through the possibilities, this could be a way to defeat the Drones permanently. Perhaps the crew wouldn't need to spend the next three years in stasis after all this could be the breakthrough they needed. He could even test the weapon on a Drone ship that was grounded. There would need to be work done first.

A small chime rang out in the control room. Melissa was transmitting again, they must have found a safe place. Eli activated the comms system and blasted past her greeting in excited fashion.

'Melissa?' He said 'It's Eli, I've got an idea!'

End of Chapter 2


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It was several hours later when Eli gated to the surface of the planet. He stepped through the stable wormhole and shivered despite the heat as his molecules having been broken apart and transported through sub space were suddenly fused back together.

Eli had seen on Destiny's sensors that the Stargate was located on a large land mass close to the Planet's equator so he was expecting the warm environment that he was now in. Looking around he could see the edge of what appeared to be a deep jungle. Directly in front of him stood an entourage of five people, four men and one woman, who ran over to him as he descended the small platform on which the Stargate was mounted.

'Eli, I'm so glad you're here. I'm Melissa'. She said shaking him warmly by the hand. Eli stammered out a greeting, struck as he was by her beauty. She had waist long blonde hair tied in several places in pony tail. Her features were soft and not that unlike Chloe who still slumbered in cryogenic sleep aboard the now abandoned Destiny. He felt a small pang of guilt as he realised this. There was a plan after all, he was supposed to stick to the plan.

'This is our Security Chief Alan Rickings.' Continued Melissa, breaking his sudden reverie. Eli's gaze fell on the large, bearded, bear like man she indicated. In his early fifties Rickings cut an impressive figure compared the guards he had brought with him. He also shook Eli by the hand, but looked ill at ease with such social etiquette. Eli could see he was a man probably happier in a combat situation than he was in a meet and greet like this. He spoke in a deep gravely voice. 'It's an honour to meet one of the great ancestors,' he said. 'It was foretold that you may one day return to us. I only hope this idea of yours works.'

Eli winced slightly in the grip of the man. 'I hope so to.' He said giving what he hoped was a winning smile. It made no impression on Rickings.

'We should move.' Said Rickings to the group at large. 'The Stargate will have alerted the drones to our presence, it will only take 10 minutes for them to reach us.'

With that they moved from the clearing for the Stargate into the jungle. A path had been clearly hacked out and without speaking the group began to move through the undergrowth. It had only been about 10 minutes when Eli heard the characteristic whine as drones flew overhead. He felt the fear catch in his throat and glanced nervously at the canopy overhead. The flora of this world clearly favoured wide, thick leaves covered as the sky was from view. If anything this made him more nervous knowing that they were wheeling and sweeping in the sky above but he was unable to see them. He felt Melissa's presence by his side.

'Don't worry Eli.' She said placing a hand on his shoulder. 'The jungle canopy is too thick for them to penetrate and we're not giving off any EM signal for them to lock on to. They'll just make wider circles around the Stargate for about an hour before they fly back to the Mothership.' Eli smiled and nodded as she said this, but as the sound buzzed overhead again he couldn't shake the feeling that he made a mistake by coming here to fight the drones, when not far away his whole crew lay vulnerable in cryogenic sleep. Swallowing down his doubts he pushed on through the jungle as the group made their way back to their base.

Eli was given a big welcome when they got back to the cave complex the survivors called home. The caves were located on a large hill that rose up from a much lighter part of the jungle. After nearly 2 hours of trekking through the jungle Eli was exhausted and the unease he felt earlier had started to come back. Not only had he left the Destiny unprotected with the rest of the crew slumbering, but he was now unable to get back to them if he wanted unsure as he was of the location of the Stargate. He had tried to memorize the route, but they had taken several turns and crossed through some other well cut routes.

Once they had arrived at the camp Eli was greeted by several small and excitable children. He was lead by hand to meet various people of note. Their names and faces all blurring in his mind. After the introductions were met he was invited to take a place by the fire in the central living cave and talk about the plan he had gone over with Melissa. He was talking mainly with the elders in the community, but it seemed the general community was also invited, filling the cave with bodied. Also present was Melissa who watched him in what appeared to be endless fascination, and in the background the stern Rickings arms crossed over his torso.

After a basic meal of what looked like, and tasted like rice, Eli was asked to go over the plan that he had discussed with Melissa less than 12 hours ago. He got to his feet and swallowed down the nervousness. He had come up with plans for the Destiny before but the added pressure brought on by the almost hero worship he was receiving from these people was starting to get to him.

'Basically Melissa here has done most of the work, she is able to disable the Drone's control with her program, what she lacks is an effective delivery system, and a way to stop the systems from fighting back before it's too late. My addition is this piece of technology here.' With that he held up a small black box that he had been carrying in his bag since he'd left the ship. It was about a foot wide and contained on the top a screen that was currently slowly pulsing light green letters. The back of his audience jostled as they tried to get a better look. He could tell as an ultimate weapon it was somewhat lacking in stature.

'A few months ago,' he continued. 'Two of our crew members Dr Amanda Perry and Ginn were killed while their minds were in each others bodies. Despite the death of both their bodies, their minds where preserved with ancient technology.' He paused as he saw people whispering and raising their eyebrows. 'Um long story,' he said with a nervous smile. 'Anyway, they were briefly able to communicate with those of us on the ship but circumstances forced us to segregate their programs from the rest of Destiny.' A pang of grief welled up inside of him as his mind flashed back to his last moments with Ginn. 'I have been able to isolate them to this memory unit, our plan is to combine them with Melissa's program and an update of what these drones have been up to. Then we'll upload them to the Mothership, their programs basically contain a whole human consciousness so they'll be able to adapt to the Mothership's protection systems long enough for Melissa's program to do its work. With a bit of luck anyway.' He said He surveyed the small crowd clasping his hands aware of how sweaty they seemed to be.

'A bit of luck?' Said a voice. Eli looked across at Rickings his eyes seeming to penetrate him. 'Well like I said I can't communicate with either Amanda or Ginn they won't know where they are or even how much time has passed. Hopefully the information I have added regarding the drones will be understood quickly enough for them to effect their end of the plan.' He said, returning what he hoped was a strong gaze of his own. Somehow though, he doubted it.

'Sounds like a hell of a risk to take.' Said Rickings, letting his statement hang in the air as the whispering in the crowd increased. Eli stood there aware of all the eyes on him. 'Any plan has risk attached Rickings.' Said Melissa also standing, much to Eli's relief. 'Better we try and fight the enemy than hide here in a cave till they figure out how to find us and kill us.'

Rickings nodded his head at her words. The crowd clapped Eli and Melissa and the Elders agreed that it was a solid plan and should be attempted the following morning. Rickings would lead a security team along with Eli and Melissa. Then a second diversion team would draw the majority of drones away, in case they were aware the Mothership was under attack.

Business now taken care of music from a plethora of string instruments started up, and the younger generation began dancing, drinks were poured as the solemn gathering gave way to a party. Eli tried to make his way to a quiet area. There was still work to be done on the program before he could relax. As he made his way through the happy smiling people they stopped to shake his hand or congratulate him or tell him that they believed in him. Nodding and smiling as best he could at them he finally found a small alcove cut into the cave wall that he could sit in quiet.

He tapped instructions on his memory unit, his face bathed in the pale green light. Hard to imagine he thought that trapped in this small box was the fully functional mind of the woman he loved. He sighed letting his head fall back. Was this cruel? He thought to himself. On the deck of Destiny it had felt clear, he would be the knight in shining armour for both the people below and the crew of the Destiny. Imagine if he'd found the way to stop the drones. They might not even need to sleep through the next three years. Down here on the surface of the planet surrounded by strangers god knows how many millions of miles away from the people he cared most about in the universe, he felt far less certain. What if something went wrong and he was injured or god forbid killed. They'd be stuck adrift till the power died or the drones finally tracked them down and finally destroyed the unprotected Destiny.

'Eli?' Said a voice, breaking him out of his tortured daydream. It was Melissa, she sat down beside him and handed him a drink. They sat in silence side by side but both facing forward as the muted sounds of the party washed over them. 'I appreciate the risk you took in coming here Eli.' Said Melissa turning her head to him. 'I know you must feel we're asking a lot from you. But if you hadn't come I don't think we would have survived for much longer.' Eli nodded and met her eyes. 'I'm glad I can help Melissa, really I am. I don't know, I guess I just, I just miss them. All of them.' He said tightening his grip on the memory unit. 'I know you do, but if it's any help I'll make sure whatever happens tomorrow I'll get you back to the Stargate. I promise.' Said Melissa. Eli grinned at her 'Thanks Melissa, it's a good plan for the record. I know it will save you.' Said Eli leaning closer to her his voice quiet now, their eyes locked to each other, the sounds of revelry in the background not even registering to them. 'I know you will Eli.' Said Melissa leaning towards him now. 'I prayed every night that someone would come to help us, we've lost so much.' They were close to each other now, the moment seemed to stretch out. Eli could see nothing but her eyes.

'Melissa we need you.' Said a voice that cut through everything causing them both to jerk suddenly back to straight sitting positions. Eli glanced up to see Rickings standing there, his hand beckoned to Melissa. She looked embarrassed and quickly got to her feet. 'Get a good nights sleep Eli.' She said 'It's going to be a busy day tomorrow.' With that she followed Rickings away.

Eli turned back to his memory unit and felt his cheeks burning. What was that? He thought to himself. A few hours later the party wound down and Eli had made as many adjustments as he thought he would need, it was out of his hands now. He slipped into an uneasy sleep in his corner to the sound of animal life filtering in from the jungle outside.

Dawn had barely began to creep over the horizon when Eli was shaken awake by Melissa. He rubbed his eyes and the cave came back into focus. Melissa was crouched over him, she was dressed in a loose fitting dark green tunic and even darker leggings. He could see worry lines over her face. clearly now that the moment was upon them she was starting to consider the dangers. He tried to meet her eyes but she looked away quickly and told him to get ready and walked away. Figures, thought Eli glumly he'd had this kind of treatment from the opposite sex all his life and here it was happening again billions of light years away.

He got his feet and bundled the memory unit back into its pack, there was a bowl of water that had been left for him by some discerning resident. He washed his face feeling the cold water chase away the last remnents of sleep. He made his way to the cave entrance where he saw the team of about 10 individuals dressed similar to Melissa. Clearly it would be these that would be accompanying him on this mission. Rickings and Melissa stood arguing a little way off, they stopped when they saw him approach. 'Good morning Eli.' Said Rickings, sounding unaccustomedly chirpy compared to his more dour persona the night before. 'We'll be leaving in about ten minutes, make sure your ready.' He continued. Then with a meaningful glance at Melissa he joined his men.

'What was that about?' Asked Eli. Melissa's expression was full of worry but she said. 'Nothing, it was nothing Eli. Are you ready, big day eh? Time to save the planet.' Eli could tell it was forced joviality and decided not to press the issue. 'Yeah just another day for an ancestor like me.' He said hoping to bring another smile to her face.

They group left to a chorus of goodbyes and good lucks from the camp and they made their way back into the jungle. After about a 45 minute walk Rickings held his hand up to stop the procession. 'OK.' He said in a commanding voice. 'Decoy team split up here. Give us another hour then activate your radios. As soon as you have an audio contact turn them off and scatter, then rendezvous back here. And gentlemen, no heroics just get back and get back alive.' With a round of "Yes Chief!" Five men broke from the group and headed in another direction. The main group with a seriously panting Eli drove on.

Nearly an hour later Eli was moved to the head of the column. He wiped the sweat from his eyes and joined Rickings who was in a prone position at the lip of a gorge. Eli lay down next to him and took in the scene.

The gorge was enormous, the jungle became thinner the further you looked into it and began to thicken again at the other side. The gorge itself however was dominated by the downed drone Mothership. Having only really seen them via the small holographic imager on Destiny Eli was impressed at the size. Larger than Destiny its armour was thick and in various places deeply scoured, as if slashed at by immense claws. Clearly it had seen combat before. Eli wondered how many alien races had fetched up against them and failed. How many civilisations had been destroyed by their single purpose to annihilate any technology they encounter.

Perhaps a past engagement had led it to this premature end on a small planet. They surely had the capacity for repair so whatever had caused its fall must have been pretty extensive. Rickings next to him gazed through some heavy binoculars occasionally glancing at his watch. A couple of minutes later a loud keening wail rang out through the gorge. Eli jumped at the sound, secretly ashamed none of the others did the same. A series of loud cracks were then sounded and more than a dozen drones accelerated away from the Mothership and with incredible speed hurtled over the jungle. Rickings turned to Eli.

'OK Eli this is the moment time to see if you've got that luck you were talking about.' He said. Eli moved himself into a sitting position and accessed the memory unit. Thankfully the built in transmitter was already registering the Mothership's command signal. He tapped out a command and watched as a small upload bar flitted briefly across its small screen. 'That's it.' He said to the expectant Rickings. The man looked quizzically at Eli. 'It uh... might take a few moments to work.'

Another loud crack rolled over the gorge causing the two men to spin round. A drone had left the Mothership and hurtled skywards. In mounting horror Eli saw it wheel gracefully in the air and then plunge towards them. 'BACK TO THE JUNGLE!' yelled Rickings who had guessed this wasn't a frendily gesture. The men rose to their feet and prepared to carry out the instruction, but the drone had closed the gap too quickly. Laser pulses arced across the space and slammed into the lip of the gorge with amazing concussive force, causing sprays of dust and smoke to obscure Eli's sight. Another burst tore through their group igniting several trees, the ground shook under their power. Eli saw a man he been introduced to as Whitehead fall unconscious against a tree, one side of his face now black with burns.

Eli looked wildly around for Melissa as two more cracks were heard. Two more drones joined their fellow, and in formation they made another pass. Eli heard the air sizzle as their laser pulse weapons slammed yet again into the undergrowth, the force of them hitting the ground knocked him of his feet, and he scrabbled on his hands and knees to a try trying desperately to find cover, any cover. The stucco sound of gunfire erupted around him as the fighters fired back at the wheeling drones overhead. Somewhere in the chaos he heard Rickings shouting some more. Eli looked back up and saw the three drones fly back overhead, and moving together they arced back round towards the group almost at a horizontal angle. They'd marked their targets now, Eli could see there was no running, no cover, this was it. He shouldn't have come here, now not only had his mistake cost his own life, but very likely the life of his crew. He shut his eyes and waited for the end, the sound of the drones drew closer, pockets of gunfire still sounded around him and then... nothing.

Eli opened his eyes. The drones just hung in the air, as if waiting for a decision. Then in unison their engines cut out and they plummeted from the sky just beyond the lip, hitting the ground with dull thuds and rolling down the gorge. A loud woop sounded from one of the men, joined quickly by the others. Eli walked back to the edge of the gorge and looked down at the drones, which lay there totally inert. Melissa walked to his side. Eli was pleased to see she seemed unhurt. 'Did it... did it work?' She asked, her voice soft as if she was scared to ask the question.

Rickings, also unhurt in the barrage stood amidst the smoke and small fires and slowly turned his radio on. At first there was just static and then '...repeat. Drones have deactivated, they're falling out of the damn sky!' This was joined by the sound of cheering soldiers. A smile formed over Rickings' face. 'Copy that.' He said into the mic. Melissa squeezed Eli's hand 'You did it Eli, it worked.' She said. Eli felt a smile broaden over his face and he threw is hand in the air and joined the whooping and cheering soldiers.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

It was 3 hours later and a jubilant Eli stood on the bridge of the grounded Mothership, while outside yet another party was in full swing. Eli guessed that over the last few years there had been very little to party about. A state of affairs, thanks in no small way to him, that was now over.

Also present on the cramped bridge were several members of what passed as the Novan scientific community and Melissa, who still seemed to have trouble keeping eye contact with him for any length of time. Although her demeanour had improved considerably since a tentative group of soldiers burnt their way into the Mothership, to confirm 100% that it had finally been defeated.

Despite their obvious design being geared for full automation, the erstwhile builders of the drones had seen fit to install a small manned bridge. This was presumably for upgrades or tasks they preferred to do themselves. Melissa was clearly excited at the prospect of re writing their code to change them from automatic attack drones, to a scouting and defence system for the community to use. Just in case any new Motherships showed up to contest the planet.

The bridge was a circular room, with banks of computers lining the smooth curved walls. Whatever seats had originally been used had long been discarded so Eli was stooped over one of the consoles he'd managed to get power to. He had already plugged in the memory unit he'd taken from Destiny and was checking to make sure the transfer of Ginn and Perry back had been completed properly. For a few precious seconds he had hoped that uploading them to the Mothership then downloading them back into the unit would remove the blocks preventing him from re installing them back into Destiny's main systems. Alas the unit's display still showed their files as quarantined. As he completed his final checks Rickings came onto the bridge ducking under the small doorway. He and Melissa shared a look, and without saying anything she began to get very busy at the console she was working on.

'Eli have you thought anymore about staying on with us a bit? Who knows how long it will take for the drones to realise what we've done here and come looking for us? With your help we could take the fight to them, help free other planets in the same situation as we are.' He said, standing next to Eli's console. 'Yeah I have Rickings.' Replied Eli 'And my answer is still the same. I have to take Ginn and Perry back, and I have to get back to Destiny. We have a mission to complete.' Rickings seemed frustrated as Eli told him this.

He guessed he could see it from the Chief's point of view. Eli represented a hope that the people of Dapricord hadn't felt for such a long while. To see him go so soon after an apparently easy victory must be a bitter pill to swallow. He turned back to his console as Rickings left. His checks completed he could see the Mothership's operating system waiting to take commands. He was full of admiration for both Ginn and Perry, not only had they completed the objective he had crudely worked into their code, but they had seen fit to protect some of the Mothership's systems making it much easier for the Novan's to now make their changes, and turn the drones into a productive force instead of the hostile one they had so recently been.

It seemed so inadequate a reward that they both now had been returned to inert data streams on his memory unit. He wondered if Ginn had seen him. In the milliseconds between them finally taking control and them shutting the whole Mothership down, Ginn would have had access to the drones data. As the drones made that final sweep towards them maybe she could have glimpsed him. The thought seemed nice and he placed his hand on the memory unit as if somehow she could be aware that he was there. 'Soon.' He promised them.

Eli and the other scientists filed out of the Mothership and rejoined the main group dancing and cheering outside. The clearing had already been made bigger by industrious hands, and a large fire had been made casting shadows against the forbidding metal bulk of the Mothership. Food was starting to be cooked and the Novan's were clearly planning to make a night of it. This seemed as good a time as any for him to slip away back to Destiny. As Melissa walked by he gently put his hand on her arm feeling slightly irked that she flinched under his touch.

'I think its time I headed back to the Stargate,' he said. She looked back into his eyes before nodding. I'll tell Rickings, the security guys will want to escort you back to the gate.' For some reason this made Eli feel slightly nervous. 'I don't want to disturb anybody I'd rather just you and me slip away now,' he said. But Melissa shook her head. 'Eli the drones maybe down but there are still wild animals in the jungle between here and the gate. It's just a precaution,' she replied. Eli could see there was no point arguing with her and agreed. She turned and made her way towards the tall and imposing Rickings.

Eli could feel his spirits rising when they finally made it back to the Stargate clearing. He immediately began the dialling procedure and turned back to his entourage as one by one the chevrons lit up. His entourage in question contained far more people than he felt appropriate. In addition to Melissa, Rickings and various soldiers, there were children, their parents and even several of the elders who would normally never trek this far out from the settlement. Eli supposed he should feel honoured. They clearly just wanted to give him a big send off, but still.

The final chevron lit up and the Stargate activated, sending a plume of vortex out from the gate which retracted instantly leaving a stable wormhole, rippling like a grey puddle rudely disturbed by a stone. Eli breathed a final sigh of relief. The ship was ok. He addressed the group of what must have been about 30 people.

'Well folks it's been fun but I've got to go. You guys take care of yourselves.' He said in jovial way. There was a final round of hand shaking, congratulating and slaps on the back and then. Finally. Eli stepped through the waiting Stargate. He felt the familiar sensation of hurtling through a long twisting tunnel, and then his vision came back as he stepped through, shivering, into Destiny's gate room. He allowed himself a fist pump. It had all gone according to plan. Now he just had to decide whether he should put himself into cold sleep or wake the Colonel to let him now he had found a way of stopping the drones. Then he heard a noise from the gate.

He span round and saw Rickings step through the gate onto Destiny's deck. He barely had time to say 'What the..' when Rickings, seeing him said. 'I'm sorry Eli. But you gave me no choice.' Then he raised his radio to his mouth. 'Entrance room is empty, just like he said. First squad come through. Oh God! thought Eli, panic, suddenly rising through his whole body like icy water. They were going to take the ship! Adrenaline coursed through him and he made a bolt for the control podium. He had to shut off the gate.

Rickings was prepared for this, and sprinted forward to intercept the running Eli, body checking him as he did so. The blow sent Eli tumbling to the floor. He rolled back to a crouching position in time to see four men walk out of the Stargate. 'No No No NO!' screamed Eli, and in desperation he launched himself at Rickings. His fist swung wildly at Rickings' head, but Rickings was a veteran and smoothly ducked under blow whilst unleashing a left hook of his own. It was fast and powerful, Eli stood no chance. He felt the fist slam home under his ribcage knocking the wind out of him. He gasped for breath as the pain spasmed through his whole body dropping him to his knees. He fell forward his hands barely stopping his fall. From this position he saw more people walk out he gate, the last one being Melissa. Tears of betrayal stung his eyes. He knew his was his own mistake, he should have trusted his gut and never responded to that distress call in the first place. Rickings knelt over him as he wheezed painfully trying to get his breath back under control. 'I never wanted this Eli, really I didn't. But I have to think of my people too. And right now Eli they need your help, and they need your ship.'

Eli felt the sobs wrack his body adding to the pain of the punch. What have I done? He thought to himself. What have I done?

Colonel Young watched Eli carefully as the young man recounted his tale. Eli's face contorted in anger as he spoke of the takeover.

'After that day I haven't been allowed any direct control of Destiny. They put me to work optimising the Mothership control program, I've been working with Melissa all this time. Despite what I thought the day of my capture, she had been against forcing me to stay but was out voted by the Elders. At least the ones in the know. When word got out they'd captured me and the Destiny, there was talk of letting me go again. But Rickings was always good at blowing up perceived threats. He got them all thinking that a drone attack was imminent. One by one they came to see me, to tell me they didn't like it but they had no choice. Whatever helps them sleep at night I guess. Anyway what happened next is still happening. One at a time we're taking down Motherships. We've struck down nearly 30 of them now. Five of those are now crewed and controlled by Novan forces. They can be retro fitted with life support you see. Plus we've been able to make the bridge bigger. Add in some sleeping quarters. By the time this is over they're going to have quite the little fleet. They tell me once the drone threat is over they're going to release me, let us go in peace. I don't believe them though. It's Rickings, I can tell that bastard's got big plans for me. He won't let Destiny go. That's why I'm recording this, to tell you I'm going to figure all this out whether I can do it tomorrow, or it takes 50 years I'll find a way to put this right. Once you are able, check your pod. I'll place something on or near it so that once you get out you'll now what my plan is. I swear I'll make this right Colonel. If it's the last thing I...' The apparition of Eli looked away as if seeing something far and to the right of Young. 'Don't think I can keep this ruse up for long Colonel. Remember, check your pod there'll be something there for you.'

With that Eli's image flickered and he disintegrated into a billion flecks of light that scattered and faded to nothingness, leaving the Colonel once again by himself.

Young fell back onto his bed, his mind buzzing with everything he just heard. He supposed he should feel anger at Eli, and in some ways he did. But, even now he felt compassion for the boy. He'd saved their necks more times than he could count. In a twisted way it made sense that when he did mess up it would be on a spectacular scale. With that thought his mind could hold back sleep no longer, and he fell into a peaceful slumber.

It was eleven hours later when Young finally woke up. For a moment he felt like he was back on the Destiny before yesterday's events brought reality crashing, unwelcome back.

Callie came into the room with a bowl of soup. Young thanked her and asked if he could speak with Harding. She replied that he was already on the bridge and happy to see him as soon as he felt able. Young drank the soup with gusto. 450 years in stasis certainly gave you an appetite he thought to himself with a dark smile.

He was shown by a man called Alex to the bridge, he stopped only to apologise to Alex about trying to attack him when he had awoken the previous night. Which the young man accepted with good humour. Now though he opened the door to the Harro'than's bridge. It was fairly spacious and circular in design. One quarter gave way to a viewing window, which stretched from the floor to the ceiling, giving the impression one could simply walk out into open space. There were three ranks of consoles all facing this viewing window, all of which had crew suddenly staring at him and whispering behind their screens. Behind these consoles nearly at the opposite wall was another chair raised on a small dias, upon which sat Doctor Michael Harding, deep in conversation with a worried looking crew member who was indicating something on the small electronic tablet he was holding. Young's gaze fell on the viewing window. Outside they were obviously in orbit around the planet they had found him on. It was startlingly Earthlike with deep blue oceans and thick cloud cover. Images and text floated over this image as the viewing window displayed technical data regarding the well being of the ship.

'Colonel Young.' Said Harding noticing him and waving away the crewman he was speaking to. 'Come, let's talk in my office.' He said getting up from his seat and indicating a small door set into the curve of the room, which slid open as they approached it. They went through into Harding's office. Here the room was dominated by a big wooden desk, filled with clutter and a single computer terminal. The walls were covered in photos and bookshelves. It didn't take a genius to see this was the office of an academic.

Harding sat behind the desk and indicated for Young to take one of the smaller chairs opposite, which he duly did. 'Now then Colonel, I trust you had a pleasant night's sleep?' Said Harding steepling his fingers and sitting back in the leather chair. Young weighed up in his mind how much he should tell Harding, the man was after all an unknown quantity, but at the same time the only man he knew with his own starship. He elected to keep vague, at least for the time being.

'Yes I did thanks, I'm keen to know though, how did I end up here 450 years after I was put into sleep.' He said. 'Ah yes, you my friend are the answer to the greatest riddle of them all.' Said Harding, and with that he pulled a large book out from the mass of papers littering his desk and turned the cover to show Young. It was thick and leather bound and in large letters it declared "THE GOSPEL OF ELI WALLACE" 'A touch dramatic I'm sure you will agree, but without a doubt an accurate description.' Harding placed the book back on his desk. Young could see wedged in the pages dozens of post-it notes. Doubtless the book itself had extensive notes written in it. He made a mental note to get some time alone with that book. Harding continued talking.

'As I said last night my little research team has been looking for you, for years. Thanks to the Gospel we were able to narrow our search down to this abandoned little ocean world. You remember I told you that Eli's past has a few grey areas, such as why he would be piloting a massive starship by himself?' Young nodded, but said nothing intent on drinking in everything the doctor had to say.

'Well the that's the official story. That a young Eli Wallace travelled forward in time to rescue his descendants from the greatest threat they had ever known. However in the gospel, Eli discusses at length what happened after he defeated the drones, and in particular a reward to the military leaders that aided in that struggle.' Here Harding picked up the book again, and thumbed through till he found the page he was looking for. 'Here.' He said handing the book to Young. 'Read the fifth paragraph.' Young took the book and read as directed

"When the last Mothership was destroyed at the battle of Phargas, we celebrated. The whole nation. I declared that this should be a national holiday in recognition of the new beginning we have created for our people. To mark this auspicious day gifts were provided to the great leaders of this enterprise. What could be more fitting than a piece of their own heritage? In particular General Mos was glad to receive the Lion and the Sword. No present better fitting for the hero of Topkia."

Young stared blankly at Harding. 'You mentioned something about a Lion and the Sword last night didn't you?' He said. To which Harding smiled. 'Good to know you were listening Colonel.' He said. 'Now look at this.' With that he tapped a few keys on his terminal and span the screen round so Young could see. It was a photo of a man indicating a building behind him. No wait, not just any man. That was Eli Wallace in the picture, but he was in his late thirties. Young felt the weight of the years that had passed him. Somehow that 450 years started to seem more real. A portion of the building behind Eli was magnified so the viewer could see more clearly. Set into a stone recess was a statue of none other than Young himself. Whoever had done the magnifying had circled two objects on the statue. Above the stone Young's head was a carving of a Lion. And at the statue's feet was carved a large sword.

'You see.' Said Harding excitedly. 'Eli designed that building facade himself. It's a very famous building on Dapricord. He's as good as saying that you are the Lion and the Sword.' Young nodded. 'I see,' he said. 'You also said something about a tainted sun.' 'Ah yes. That deals with the where. The Mos family were very wealthy, not surprising seeing as how they helped found an Empire. They liked to keep little holiday homes on planets that had unusual properties.' Again Harding tapped on his terminal. 'Later on in the gospel, Eli makes mention of the Lion and the Sword fixed beneath a tainted sun.' He said, and with a flourish span the terminal back round. This time the screen displayed a garish advert for property on the ocean world of Anjou. According to the ad small islands were separated by hundreds of miles of ocean guaranteeing residents privacy. In particular the planet boasted the most incredible Aurora Borealis; because the K class star at the centre of the solar system was impacted by a Brown Dwarf star sometime in the last 10 million years, causing odd particles to exit the star and impact the ocean world. Indeed, boasted the ad. the star still carried the taint of this stellar collision to this day.

Young looked up at Harding. 'The tainted sun.' He said. 'Exactly,' returned the Doctor. Young thought to himself, If Eli knew where he was then there was still a chance he had planted something in his pod after all. Now all he had to do was convince Harding to let him go back to the surface.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

'So let me get this straight.' Said Young, anger starting to bubble beneath the surface. 'After Eli was captured the rest of us got turned into some kind of exhibit. What the hell for?' 'I would have thought that was obvious Colonel.' Said Harding. 'People like to have rare and precious things. You and your crew were, or rather are, our biological ancestors. I would imagine that go back far enough in my family tree and somewhere there you are. General Mos probably took great joy in showing you off to his friends. You were a one of a kind item.' Said Harding matter of factly. Young struggled to comprehend what he was hearing. 'But, that's insane, we're living people, how could they have done this to us. Didn't we pass down our morals, our values.' He said. Harding sighed and leant back in his chair. 'You don't know what it was like living back then, they were dark times to be alive. Novus was abandoned what little off world settlements we had were under attack by these drones. I guess you could say it drove us a little crazy.' Young grunted at this concept, he didn't find it an acceptable justification.

'Have you found anyone else from my crew, or am I the only one that's been found?' Said Young trying to keep himself calm. 'Ah, now that is an interesting question Colonel.' Said Harding. 'Officially no. But there have been rumours, rumours from far flung colonies that tell of ancestors living among them. Unstuck in time they say. Of course the Collective try to keep it quiet, but these things do slip through the com-nets. How much truth there is to these stories, I'm afraid I can't say.'

Young nodded and another question came to him. 'If Eli wrote this "gospel" 400 years ago how come it took so long for someone to find me? Surely someone connected the dots over the Lion and Sword metaphor before you.' Harding's face suddenly looked worried, the lines in his face seemed to grow deeper. 'True, those of us who follow the gospel have discussed your location for many years. It is only now that we've had the opportunity to make an attempt to retrieve you.' 'Why's that?' Asked Young, 'The Nakai,' answered Harding, making Young start. 'Nakai!' He exclaimed, 'blue skinned aliens, nasty tempers.' Harding managed a grim smile.

'The very same. Their civilisation has been encroaching on our Galaxy for many years now. They're a violent culture and they resent our presence here. They call us thieves and swindlers, they believe we stole the Destiny from them and used it to colonise this Galaxy. In their eyes everything we own belongs to them and they plan to take what they are that end they are currently engaged in attacks in this part of the Galaxy, which we have called "the red zone", which is a warning scale. Red, I'm sure you can guess means high likelihood of detection. Normally only military vessels would come out this far into the red zone, but considering we had the chance to locate you Colonel. My whole crew and I believed it was worth the risk.'

Young listened to Harding and thought how familiar he was to the scientists he had known in the SGC and Icarus base. Willing to put themselves into harms way in order to further their own cause. Not surprising really in the circumstances, no doubt the good doctor had some of Young's own DNA.

'Listen Doctor,' he said. 'Not that I'd want to put you and your men in any kind of danger, but I'd like the chance to visit the place I was found.' Harding sucked at his teeth while he regarded Young and shook his head. 'I'm afraid not Colonel. We've already taken a risk staying in orbit this long, there's no telling how long it will take the Nakai to find us.' He said.

Young thought fast, how could he get to the planet. He considered just grabbing Harding and using him as a hostage. But this ship was an unknown variable, he doubted he'd get very far with that approach. Instead he tried to convince the man by piquing his scientific intrigue.

'Doctor I have reason to believe that Eli wanted me placed on this planet. He must have known I'd be released at some point. Maybe he left something there for me to see, something your men might not have spotted.' Harding considered his words. 'I doubt that Colonel, we're all trained to see as Eli does. We've all read his gospel a hundred times. If there was a hidden message there we'd have found it.' 'Ah,' continued Young. 'are you sure doctor? With all the excitement in finding me, my attack on your men are you really sure their wasn't some small clue that Eli left that was meant for me.'

An expression of doubt flittered across Harding's face. 'I'm sorry C olonel but this isn't a warship, I can't take anymore liberties with my people's safety.' Young shook his head, he wasn't much of a diplomat. He thought of Camille Wray as much of a pain she had been this was definitely her area of expertise.

The two of them spoke more at length about the state of affairs after his long slumber. Young learned after the completion of the drone wars, the Collective consolidated power. For many years they enjoyed prosperity and began to colonise many planets along the gate system, and after backwards engineering the drone hyperdrive engines for their own ships they moved ever outwards expanding as they went. The Nakai appeared ten years ago mounting sneak attacks on the far western border of the Collective. They had been fighting back but little by little they appeared in greater numbers and had encroached further and further. Harding waxed on about great plans to move a greater part of the Collective navy in the coming months which should see the Nakai interlopers off.

After a while Young bid the man goodnight and walked back to his own deck, trying to keep his anger in check. He needed to get at that pod.

# # #

Several hours later Young was back in his room contemplating his next step. He sat in front of the computer terminal, pleased to see the interface was based heavily on the Destiny. Using the maps he could see his current location was several light years into the Nakai red zone. That would make it difficult for him to return, even if he managed to get passage on a suitable ship, even if he could find a small vessel to take him solo he still faced the added problem that there was a pulsar star in the sector, flooding the area with radiation making both communication and navigation problematic at best.

Suddenly, without warning, the whole room shook and a dull thud echoed around. The lights went suddenly out, only to be replaced by dim red ones. At the same time a klaxon sounded out. Young leapt to his feet and opened his door. The deck he was on was also now lit by the red emergency lights. One end of the deck began filling with smoke. As he stood there another thud echoed somewhere to the rear, the ship lurched causing him to grip the door frame in order to keep his balance. A crew member rushed passed clutching a small tablet device. Young grabbed him by the arm and asked him 'What's going on? Are we under attack?' The crew member, a young man with sandy brown hair, looked panicked as he stared at Young. 'It's the Nakai, they've found us.'

Young sprinted past the crewman and made for the ladder at the end of the deck. Halfway up he had to grip hard against the rungs as another thud rocked through the ship, this time a shower of sparks from a console further up the ladder fell over him.

Young made it to the bridge three decks up and was faced by pandemonium. Crew members, paralyzed by fear sat at their consoles staring at the myriad red lights and warning symbols. Harding had been right when he'd said this wasn't a warship, even rookie crews straight out of boot at the SGC were calmer under fire.

Harding himself sat in the captain's chair trying to make himself heard over the shouts from various crew members who obviously felt that by passing information to him absolved them of their own problems. Young went up to the chair and Harding saw him. Young took one look at his pleading face and immediately took control of the situation. Lifting the unresisting Harding from his seat he took his place. 'Everyone calm down!' he commanded loudly to the chaotic room. In a single moment this had the effect of shutting up every mouth and turning every head towards him.

'What's the situation?' He demanded of the room at large. A nervous looking crewman spoke. 'One Nakai destroyer class ship. It came out of Hyperspace and is firing on us... sir.' Right on cue the bridge shook violently as another weapon blast struck the bow, throwing everyone who wasn't seated to the floor. Sparks erupted from several consoles and the dim red emergency lights flickered. Not missing a beat Young barked 'Can we get some damn evasive manoeuvres.' The helmsman immediately tapped furiously at his console, spurred on by the voice of command. Young turned his attention to the display screen which had been divided into two sections. One displaying the planet below, the other an image of the attacking Nakai ship. Young was used to that silhouette now. They obviously hadn't thought to make many changes in the 450 years since Young last fought them.

'Do we have any weapons on this ship?' He asked. This time it was Harding who spoke. 'A few basic lasers Colonel, but nothing that can fight off the Nakai.' Young cursed under his breath, what he wouldn't give for Destiny's main guns right now. 'Ok make for the planet's surface and display ours and the Nakai's flight path on the main screen. His orders were carried out in a much calmer atmosphere now. The requested image was displayed and Young studied it. He could see the Nakai vessel matching their course, they were however moving at a greater velocity. He didn't need Eli to tell him that they would be caught before they reached the surface. 'Nakai firing again.' Said a voice from the crew as they said this the display image showed lights accelerating towards the Harro'than. Young waited till the lights were right on top of them before yelling. 'Hard port.' The ship lurched as the helmsman obeyed, Young saw the lights on the display continue on to the planets surface causing a small cheer to briefly fly around the bridge, which Young silenced with a glance.

'Entering upper atmosphere.' Said the helmsman. Young felt the bridge shake as they began to fly against the enormous friction. 'Return fire.' He said said. Harding leant into him and said. 'But Colonel we won't last long in a fire fight, the lasers are meant for clearing asteroids from the ship's path more than anything else. 'I'm sure you're right doctor,' said Young with a smile. 'But they don't know that, and it might just by us a bit of time.' The display image showed small lights leaving the Harro'than and heading in the direction of the ever closer Nakai. As the bridge began to shake more violently the deeper they got into the atmosphere, Young saw the Nakai ship swing wide to avoid the lasers. As he suspected their speed began to drop quickly as they fought against both the high speed maneuver and the friction created by pushing their way into the atmosphere. Allowing the Harro'than to move much further away.

Young spoke again to the helmsman. 'If you've got any clever tricks to disguise our trajectory, now's the time to impress me.' The helmsman clearly happy to be out of immediate danger turned to look at Young. 'Yes sir,' he said. 'We can fire a couple of decoys, but they won't be fooled for long, ten minutes at most. 'Whatever you can give me,' replied Young. He turned now to Harding who, like the rest of the crew was beginning to regain his procedure. 'Where's the most easily defended spot on this planet,' he asked. Harding looked at the map on the display. 'It's mainly a water world, no mountain ranges or hills. The best spot will be one of the bigger private islands, I'd say the villa Mos. Looks like you get your wish after all Colonel.' What do you mean?' Asked Young. 'Villa Mos is where we found you,' came the answer. Young saw the destination light up on the display screen. So here he was back again to his resting place for the last few hundred years.

# # #

They landed on the beach of the Villa Mos The Island was near the planet's equator meaning that the weather here was suitably tropical. Young had seen as they'd made a pass over the island that it was only about 400,000 square feet. The villa itself was a compound on the centre which rose only slightly above sea level. Comprised of five smaller buildings and a single large one it didn't lend itself greatly to base defence. Harding had said that there was a force barrier that could be erected above the central manor house. This at least meant that the Nakai couldn't simply bomb them from great height. They crew quickly disembarked, for the first time Young could see there was only about 15 people on the whole ship. He got them to gather whatever weapons were around and in single file they made their way to the Villa's compound.

The main manor house was gaudy, massive and grand, with large columns creating a porch and a pointed roof. It put Young in mind of the large Roman buildings he'd seen in movies and books. An image that had clearly rubbed off on these descendants. The smaller buildings had served variously as stables, servants quarters and whatever projects the head of the household had decided to dabble in.

Young moved the party inside the main manor house. The grand hall was the first room he saw. Twin staircases led up to a 1st floor, all around the hall was junk and bric a brac that the previous owners felt wasn't needed when they up and left. 'Ok lets get some barricades made up and facing the door, use any furniture that you can.' The group set to work at Young's behest, moving various chairs, tables and odd pieces of furniture that Young could only guess as to its purpose.

Shortly a barricade of sorts was erected. 'This will be our first line of defence,' he told them. 'Once they breach the doors take down as many as you can until they get close, then I'll call for a withdraw to a second line.' To the rear of the hall was a smaller staircase that led down. Young beckoned Harding over, noting how pale the older man's face was. Young didn't blame him, their chances of surviving this were low to say the least, they were outmanned and outgunned.

'Where does this lead?. He said, indicating the downward stairs. 'A basement, they stored all kinds of things in there. Including yourself Colonel.' Was the reply. Young took a deep breath and led Harding and a few of the crew not on the first line down to the basement. The room was an impressive size and every available wall space was covered in shelving. The vast majority were empty, no doubt removed in the exodus. It was fairly dark in here with only a few wall lights left working now. The heat began to dampen his forehead, it felt heavy and oppresive in here. His eyes scanned round until they found a door set into the left hand side of the room. Wordlessly Young walked towards the door, he knew what he would find behind it. His mind flashed back to those first seconds after wakening, expecting to see his crew and an exultant Eli Wallace explaining to a sullen Dr Rush how he'd managed to fix the pod in record time. The door swung open at his touch and there was the wooden table he'd grabbed as he fell from the pod and here was the machine itself.

Set into a recess it stood there cold and empty. Young placed his hand on the metal, this was the first piece of Destiny he had seen since he'd awoken. He felt somehow connected to his crew again, he imagined them in similar locations sleeping through the centuries unaware that everyone they knew back on Earth had died so long ago. 'For what it's worth Colonel, I'm sorry.' Harding's voice broke his reverie. He turned back to the group silently watching him from the door. 'Ok we'll make this the second line, if all goes well we can funnel them down the stairs and shoot them before they can get in.' He said, his voice cracking slightly.

The crew busied themselves again, cannibalising the furniture to make barricades. Young wondered how long mere wood would last against the weapons of the Nakai, he had to make an effort at least. Once complete he spoke to the Helmsman who was holding a tablet device, displaying various diagrams and charts. 'Any idea how long till they get here?' He said to him. The helmsman shook his head. 'Hard to say sir, we gained a bit of ground up there in the atmosphere maybe another five minutes. If nothing else they'll spot the Harro,than from air easily enough.' Young nodded at him and indicated he should go back to his post.

He had been given a rifle from another member of the crew and he took a few moments to examine it. They had come a long way since he'd last seen the descendants. This was a laser weapon, a digital readout on the top told him he had 500 shots left. If he was going to die then at least he'd get a chance to take a few of those blue monsters with him.

The atmosphere in the villa was tense as the crew waited for the Nakai to find them. Young decided to take a few moments and have another look at his pod. he placed his gun on the table and ran his fingers inside the machine. He thought back to his vision of Eli, he would place something on, or near it. Whatever it was it would have to be recognisable only to him, or at least the original crew otherwise anyone could take it off. He examined the machine carefully, on the right hand side were various ancient writings. They appeared to be stickers placed there almost haphazardly. No doubt they were there to instruct as to it's use. No wait, one of the symbols was different, a closer inspection revealed that it was a sicker of the New York Yankees logo. The colour was similar to the ancient language ones, the descendants probably thought it was simply a letter or word they didn't know. He slowly peeled it off and turned it over in his hands, on the reverse was unmistakeably Eli's handwriting. Young's hands trembled slightly, had Eli discovered a way to get the rest of the crew. Probably not, but still Eli had pulled off some pretty amazing stunts in the past. He held up the sticker to the small light in the room and squinted at the note on the reverse side. "Colonel, it's been so long since i've seen you meet me here." What followed were 6 symbols, which could only be a Stargate address.

Young pondered the meaning of this note, meet me here. It didn't make sense, Eli was long dead now. Still it was a lead, and in a universe he no longer understood or wanted any part off it was good enough for him. As he walked out the room. The helmsman stood there looking at him, his face as white as a sheet. 'Colonel, the Nakai, they're here!' He said. Young folded the note and put it in his pocket. 'Lets go.' He said


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Ascending the stairs to the ground floor level Young could hear the engines of the Nakai craft as it closed in on their position. Young gazed round at his "troops", they were mainly students and clearly terrified at the thought of engaging the feared and alien Nakai. A few of the older engineers seemed more composed, he supposed that regular work on a Starship wasn't without it's dangers.

He was pleased to see that they were at least maintaining their posts, some hope there in any case. He stepped past the last barricade and out into the tropical sunshine. The Nakai landing craft was less than half a mile out to sea. 'How strong is that shield?' He asked Harding who had come to stand next to him. As if in answer to the question the Nakai ship fired. Several bolts of brilliant yellow light hurtled from their guns and slammed into the shimmering shield protecting the manor house.

Young felt the concussion and reflexively took a step back. Another salvo arced across the water and struck the shield which dispersed the energy. 'You can take that as a yes,' said Harding with a weak smile. The two watched as the Nakai ship, frustrated by the shield's defence flew towards them sinking lower as it did, clearly they were attempting to launch a ground assault.

Young walked back into the main hall. A dozen fearful eyes watched him. 'The shield is protecting us from their guns so the Nakai will attempt to come in here on foot. I know you're all scared but this where we must draw the line. I know you doubt your abilities, but you know who I am, and you know who your ancestors where. I fought with them against the Nakai before and against far worse. Their blood flows through your veins and with you we will beat them again!' Young's speech induced a small cheer from the crew. 'Now make me believe it,' he demanded of them. This time the cheer was louder. Young nodded in satisfaction and took position behind the first barricade, unslinging his gun as he did so.

'Very good Colonel,' whispered Harding. 'You almost had me believing as well.' Young said nothing and peeked over the top of the barricade to see what the Nakai were up to. From his vantage point near the manor entrance he could just see the top of the Nakai ship. They must have landed which meant they were no doubt preparing to assault the complex. As if on cue a small metallic device was thrown through the door, it stuck immediately to the floor without bouncing and began emitting a thick grey smoke.

'Get ready,' yelled Young trying to see through the smoke grenade. Suddenly he saw them, indistinct figures moving through the smoke like some half glimpsed nightmare. 'FIRE.' He called to his men and opened fire with his own gun. He had to hand it to laser weaponry, lots of ammo and no recoil no matter how much you fire. He was rewarded as he saw his target fall after a blast from his weapon.

The Nakai returned fire with their own weapons. Laser beams flew out of the smoke causing tracers to form as they passed. Young ducked behind his barricade as the air above his head filled with laser fire. Flames spurted up from the wooden barriers as they were superheated. Two more smoke grenades came over Young's head, sticking to the floor they flooded the room with even more smoke. He felt the heat as the lasers finally punctured through his barricade. How many of them were there, he thought wildly. He fired off a few more rounds himself and heard a Nakai scream as his shots found the mark. He could barely see anything now, the sounds of laser fire and confusion was all around him. He heard a scream as one of his own crew was hit. 'Fall back,' he yelled into the smoke and moved back towards the cellar stairs.

A handful of figures emerged from the smoke coughing and spluttering, human Young saw and he ushered them to the stairs. Then a Nakai was on them, it leaped from the smoke onto a young man's back baring him to the ground with a hideous shriek a wicked looking knife in it's hand. Young moved quickly and lashed out with his foot striking the Nakai in it's large head. It released its victim and rolled back under Young's attack, it threw the knife as it did so which caught Young on the arm. Grunting in pain Young brought his weapon to bare on the hissing Nakai and squeezed the trigger. Two laser blasts hit the alien in its chest causing it to flail and fall, flames briefly licking the air.

Then more laser blasts came out of the smoke, striking the back wall. Young dived down the stairs. The Helmsman was waiting and moved the trapdoor they had found earlier into place by sliding a bolt across. Not that it would keep the Nakai out for very long. Coughing, Young took stock of their situation.

They were minus three crew, Young could only assume they had been killed in the assault. The crew that were left in the cellar coughed and rubbed their eyes. The Nakai smoke grenades must act like a tear gas as well, thought Young as he tried to clear his throat as well. He walked to the first barricade in the cellar. 'We took some of them,' he announced the frightened room. 'Now we have to make them pay for every inch they try to take from us.' They weren't much as words of comfort he conceded, but the Nakai had taken the hall fairly easily. He aimed his weapon at the top of the stairs and waited for the last assault. Now he would never now what Eli's master plan was.

The room was tense as they waited. They could hear muffled shouts above them, then laser fire. Young gripped his rifle tightly, here we go he thought, expecting the trapdoor to be suddenly blasted away. But it didn't move. The sound of laser fire was intensifying as were the Nakai shouts. What the hell? Thought Young. Who were they shooting at? He turned to Harding who was crouched behind the barricade to his left. The man returned his gaze with a questioning one of his own.

The laser fire stopped. Young stayed in position waiting for the seconds to pass, the tension in the cellar was palpable. FInally Young could take it no more. He stood weapon readied on the trapdoor as he walked slowly to the foot of the stairs, ears straining for any sound. Cautiously he took the stairs one step at a time. He reached the trapdoor and with his left hand eased the bolt back. He could feel every eye in the room on him as he did so. Now he placed his hand firmly on the trapdoor and eased it up an inch, enough for him to see into the hall.

Smoke still filled the room, less viscous now. Young turned his head trying to get a glimpse of what the Nakai were up to. He saw nothing, lifting the trapdoor higher he started to emerge back into the hall, then he saw the bodies. There were at least a dozen dead Nakai less than 6 feet away from the stairwell.

Something hit him in the back. Hard. The wind knocked out of him he hit the ground, his weapon flying from his grasp. He span onto his back to face this new threat and his heart dropped, hovering over him was one of the alien drones that had forced him and the Destiny crew into stasis. He had no chance, he shut his eyes and waited for the laser blast that would be his end.

'Sorry about that friend,' said a voice. Young opened his eyes suddenly confused again. Had that come from the drone? 'Had to make sure you weren't another Nakai, hope I didn't hurt you too bad.' The voice was coming from a speaker mounted onto the front of the drone. 'Who are you?' Said Young, incredulously. '2nd Lieutenant Malcolm Archer,' came the reply. 'Can you get any survivors together? There's a medical shuttle en route to pick you guys up and bring you back to the Mothership.' 'The Mothership?' Young was aware he must sound like an idiot but this didn't make any sense, weren't drones controlled by AI. Malcolm's voice laughed over the drone's speaker. 'Sure.' he said. 'This is the CMS Tamara Johansen. Looks like we got here just in time.'

Wordlessly Young got to his feet. The smoke had mostly gone now, and he could see five drones hovering in the hall over the fallen Nakai. He continued out to the front door as the Harro'than crew began to come up the stairs. Outside he saw a squadron of drones hurtle over the manor house, they were in a circular pattern over the island. Towards the beach they had originally come from was a thick plume of smoke rising into the sky. He reached the end of the compound and saw the Nakai ship, a wreck half submerged in the sea. Other drones had taken up positions over it. Young wondered if this day could get any stranger.

# # #

The Tamara Johansen, it turned out was the name of a drone mothership. Harding explained it to Young as the medi shuttle returned them to orbit. It seemed that Eli had been able to refine his and Melissa's program, so that virtually the entire Collective navy consisted of drone ships. At this point they were able to utilize the drone AI to independently seek and destroy targets or assume direct control of individual drones and pilot remotely.

The Motherships themselves had been extensively retrofitted with life support so now they were fully manned with a human crew, with an AI backup should they be damaged or taken over. The vast majority of these ships had been named after the Destiny crew. Considering that the Collective were holding him and the rest of the Destiny as leverage to keep Eli in line, it felt somewhat cynical. Harding told him that naming the motherships after the ancestors was actually Eli's idea. Perhaps he wanted to hear their names spoken. Young began to realise how terribly alone he must have felt all those years ago kept prisoner by his love of his crew.

After a short flight the medi shuttle docked at the Tamara Johansen. Having only seen them as threats on Destiny's imaging display Young finally appreciated how massive the machines were. Thousands of years old, it had no doubt wiped out hundreds of ships and colonies and now here it was being crewed by humans and used for their defence. We're nothing if not an adaptive species thought Young.

He'd been recognised by several of the crew of the medi shuttle. Now as they passed through a series of airlocks, other members of the crew were pointing and whispering in hushed tones. Young was about to say something to them when an officer approached the party. He was a tall man with a suitably impressive uniform. 'Colonel Young?' He inquired pointlessly. Young tired and still aching from the fight below merely nodded. 'Captain Jacobs would like to see you in his office immediately.' Harding, some of his old swagger coming back now they were out of immediate danger, spoke back at once.

'Colonel Young is in my charge if he's being summoned anywhere I'll be coming to.' Young put his hand on the doctor's shoulder. 'Easy Doc,' he said. 'You see to your crew I'll be back soon, I want the chance to thank this captain anyway.' Harding seemed too tired to argue further and allowed the officer to lead Young away. At the end of the corridor was a lift which they got in. As it whirred into life carrying them higher into the mothership Yong spoke. 'So this Captain Jacobs, what's he like?' The officer was momentarily startled. 'A fine Captain sir, he's taken the Tamara Johansen into several conflicts and always got us back out again.'

Ah a proper military man then, thought Young. Exiting the lift they walked down another corridor, occasionally they would encounter crew members who stared at Young. This irritated him, he was no celebrity. Finally they came to a door marked "Captain's Office" The officer knocked smartly and a voice was heard 'Come in.' They walked in to a large office. It was sparsely furnished in contrast to the office Harding kept on the Harro'than. There were a few shelves containing books and the occasional ornament but mainly it contained a large desk. The Captain was in a leather high back chair facing away from Young. A young woman in uniform was standing next to him holding a tablet device and was waved away when they walked in. 'Leave us Clarkson.' Said the voice of the Captain. The two officers left closing the door behind them leaving just Young and the Captain.

'Colonel Young, I've been waiting to see you for such a long time now.' Said the Captain, his chair still turned away from Young, and facing the display on the opposite wall on which an image of the planet below was gently rotating. 'Captain... Jacobs was it? Generally I like to see the people I'm speaking to,' Said Young. 'Straight to the point Colonel, I think I remember that most of all about you,' said the Captain. This caught Young by surprise, and he'd had quite enough surprises for one lifetime. 'You remember? What the hell does that mean? Who the hell are you?' He demanded of the chair. Captain Jacobs slowly turned round to face Young. His face was bearded and he wore the same kind of uniform as the rest of his crew, their was something familiar about the man's face though but he couldn't quite...

Then it hit him, like a ton of bricks realisation flooded through him, he opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. His hand gripped one of the small chairs situated in front of the desk and he slipped into it before his legs gave way. Sitting in front of him, noticeably older now was Varro. 'Hello Colonel,' said Varro smiling as he watched Young's expression. 'It's been a long time.'

# # #

'What? How? When?' Spluttered Young as he looked into the face of his former crewman as if daring his eyes to be wrong. Varro smiled as he looked back at Young, then as one the two men stood up and clasped each other's hands in a handshake. 'Which one should I answer first Colonel,' said Varro sitting back into his large leather chair.

Young tried to overcome his emotions. Admittedly the former Lucian Alliance man wouldn't have been his first choice of former crew to meet, but he was a welcome sight nonetheless. 'Why don't we start with how the hell you got to be sitting in the Captain's chair of this Starship.' He said taking his seat as well. Varro's face became a little more serious.

'It's an interesting tale Colonel. It's been nearly 11 years since I last saw you or any of the rest of the crew. I went into my pod back on Destiny and woke up again in a trophy room face to face with some girl. Her name was Tracy Anders, only 23 I had been passed down to her father as a kind of gift for his service, it seems that darling Tracy had a bit of a soft spot for me. COnvinced herself she was in love with me, I don't think she had much of a happy life. Anyway while her parents away she'd taken it upon herself to free me. Well as you can imagine I was a little confused, Tracy filled in what she could but I was clearly in trouble if her folks came back with me out of the pod. So in a move I'm not particularly proud of I knocked her out filled a bag with everything I could from the house and fled. I grew a beard and lived off the grid for a year or so. I learned what I could about what happened to us. Even tried tracking down some of the others, but whenever I got a lead I was always too late. Luckily my ancestor counterpart was a bit camera shy so I didn't get recognised all that often. Eventually I purchased some fake ID and joined the navy. I'd heard a rumour that highly distinguished war heroes were presented with a member of the Destiny crew frozen in cryo. Worth a shot, so I worked my way up the ranks.' Varro opened his arms to indicate the whole office. 'And here I am Captain of my own ship.'

'I see, how did you end up here today, I'm sure there are plenty of places to patrol, don't tell me it's by coincidence.' Said Young to the still smiling Varro. 'Naturally Colonel, I chose posting to the Red Zone because of all the chatter from Gospel followers, they said you were possibly here, then I heard some crazy doctor managed to get funding to pull a ship together and was actually searching for you. I've been tracking him for nearly 3 weeks now. Then we saw the Nakai moving in and I figured you could use a hand.'

Young took this in. 'So if you got out could any of the others? Have you heard about anyone else?' He asked eagerly. 'One or two. Chloe Armstrong definitely escaped about 100 years ago. Led a largely covered up rebellion. It was hit hard I assumed she died in the fighting. There were rumours about Greer about 30 years ago but I never saw any evidence. Once, before I joined the navy I ran with some black market traders, they had two empty pods. Who they belonged to I just don't know.'

Young nodded. Hard to believe the crew was lost in time like this separated by centuries. It made Eli's plan less and less relevant it seemed. Eli. Young's hand flew to his pocket and the sticker Eli had placed on his pod, scared for a moment it had fallen out during his battle with the Nakai. Thankfully his fingers gripped it and he pulled it out to show Varro.

'Eli left this for me. When I came out of my pod he was able to give me a vision where he told me how he lost the Destiny. He also said he could fix everything. This note has a Stargate address, I think whatever he was planning is still there. Varro took the note and typed the symbols into his terminal. He frowned at the result and turned the machine back to Young.

'Could be tricky Colonel. This address points to the Beijing sector.' Young raised his eyes at the name. 'Earth names are always filtering through here. My second posting was in the New York system, I'm told that's another famous Earth place,' 'Just a bit. So why is Beijing a problem?' Asked Young. 'The Collective run a civilisation wide monitoring system, they play it down as essential to maintain the society. Really it's just a big sub space spy network. They developed it after miss Armstrong's ill fated rebellion. They use it to spot and crush dissent before it takes root. Point is no ship is allowed within 50 lightyears of the system, and your address points to a small moon right in the middle of it. I guess 400 years ago it was pretty remote.'

Young sighed. 'Look Varro I don't know what's there, maybe it's nothing. But if Eli's found any way to rescue the rest of the crew I owe it to them to try and see it through. I need your help. They need your help.' Varro grinned again at Young 'You want me to risk my life and this big shining career I've built for myself?... I though you'd never ask.'


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Young would spend the next 2 months on the Tamara Johansen as the crew had to finish their tour of duty. Every minute of spare time he had he would pull up the computer terminal in his cabin and delve into the history of the Novuns. Especially those stories involving Eli. Clearly the boy's intellectual capacity had grown greater over the years Young and the crew slept away. Videos could be streamed showing the various accomplishments that Eli achieved. Here was one that showed Eli discussing the search method that found the crew of the generational starships that fled Novus. Young recalled the conversation he'd had with Rush and Eli when they told him that it would be impossible to track a sub light starship over such great distances. Eli's solution proved far too technical for Young to understand but he could tell by Eli's expression as told the reporter he was incredibly proud of himself. Even so after two years living with Eli, Young could sense the sadness behind Eli's words and expressions. Young wondered how many times Eli had approached this "Collective" and begged them to let him see the Destiny crew, Perhaps they raised his hopes telling him maybe they would after Eli performed just one more technical marvel.

There were happier moments in his life. Young saw videos of Eli's wedding day. An event that was celebrated all across the civilisation, here at least some genuine joy showed on Eli's face. Young wasn't completely surprised to see his bride was none other than the same Melissa he'd met on Dapricord. Eli must have forgiven her after all. There was a list of his extended family. Many of his descendants were alive today. Most had gone into various studies of academia. In particular one or two looked a lot like Eli.

Young scoured the networks for other mentions of his crew. They were hard to find, the theory that Eli was being coerced into helping the Collective was clearly something they were active in scrubbing from the network. Harding and his crew were evidence that this system wasn't entirely effective. Young could have told them that. In police states back on Earth information always found a way out. An enduring struggle of mankind's yearning to be free. Information on Chloe's rebellion was widely available however it was clearly written from Collective approved sources. Here and there though Young could find traces of prove, she'd won a victory on a small backwater planet called Rentoa. A video filmed during a speech she had given had found it's way into the public domain. Young watched it several times, it was clearly filmed many years after her release, she must have been in her late thirties. She gave an impassioned speech about the value of freedom and the right of every Novun to be free. Young could imagine how hard life must have been for her. Who knows what she must have endured before she got her chance to fight back. Perhaps she led her own crusade to locate the rest of the crew. Certainly she became an effective military commander. The alien DNA still floating around in her system must have passed on more than just a genius level grasp of complex mathematics. The reports from that era reported she'd been killed during the battle of the Feren Gulf, a large gaseous star forming nebula that had served as her base of operations, owing to its scanner blocking radioactive properties. She was in command of a starship during the battle. Young hoped she went quickly and didn't suffer too long. If he ever found a way to release the crew he could only imagine the pain Scott would feel to know that his lover had died a hundred years ago.

He fancied that Greer too had escaped from his pod. nearly 80 years ago a star in the Denver sector went nova threatening two colony worlds. The Collective had been slow to react to this threat and there weren't enough transports readily available to evacuate the civilians off world. Looting and general lawlessness had gripped the world causing widespread panic and hampered the operations. When the Collective finally sent a task force they were led by a Commander Davids. A famously camera shy man, he'd led ground troops against the looters and almost single handedly held the central refugee centre against the criminals who were partaking in the rampage. Descriptions of him clearly pointed to Greer, what few video's of him that existed only gave weight to the theory. Young smiled the day he found that data. Greer was a military man through and through. No doubt whatever circumstances caused his pod to be opened had barely fazed the man. He must have just gone straight to the nearest recruitment centre and joined right on up. Young was pleased to see the man's temper hadn't got in the way of an illustrious career. Young always knew the man had the potential to be great if only he could control his baser instincts.

More recent history pointed to the Nakai making more and more encroachments on Novun territory. Remote drones had been sent to their galaxy to try and discover why the attacks had become so much more frequent. Every single drone had been tracked and destroyed by Nakai spacecraft. The data that did come back seemed to suggest many conflicts across their space. They were without doubt a society that thrived on violence. Perhaps these invasions were a weaker side fleeing their own galaxy and simply didn't comprehend the concept of co habitation. The drone ships that had built the Collective had once again proven their worth to the Novun people. They were a force to be reckoned with, three motherships had more than enough firepower to evict even large numbers of Nakai destroyers. However the Nakai seemed to possess almost limitless numbers while for the Novun's, every Mothership that was lost was keenly felt by the Navy. 450 years unfortunately wasn't enough time to work out how they were constructed, and an over reliance on them meant that the Navy had precious few other military craft that could fill anything other than a support role. This made troubling reading for Young. Even if at Eli's secret location he'd found a way to get the other pods open they would still have to live in this galaxy. The Destiny was long gone now an ancient relic gathering dust in some museum somewhere, where school children were brought by their parents and told "That's where we all came from".

But while he would spend hours in front of a screen trying to catch up with the last 450 years of history, he'd also been integrating himself with the crew. He respected Varro as the Captain of this vessel and while he'd had his reservations about letting him roam free about the Destiny Varro seemed glad to have Young aboard. The feeling was mutual, until he'd met Varro this world which he'd awakened into seemed unreal, as if he would suddenly wake up amongst the crew having completed their 3 year journey and they'd all meet in the mess hall, and Eli would laugh about fixing the pod, needling Rush as he described some clever trick he performed to get the machine working again.

He became quite friendly with some of the other crew as well. Once they'd got over seeing a real live Ancestor of course. There was Alexander Craven, the operations chief. He was young at only 24 but had a meteoric career skilled in just about every mechanism of the Mothership he was responsible for keeping its various systems in check. He was also a bit of a ladies man, with his sandy blonde hair and winning smile. The tactical officer position was held by a stern woman with greying hair, called Athena Burrows. Career military she was nearly 50 as far as Young could tell. 30 years on various Motherships had given her an excellent tactical mind. In charge of drone deployment she could control the AI responsible for manoeuvring the drones setting target priorities and flight paths. Young had first seen her in action during a rescue mission. A transport vessel had found itself under attack by two Nakai destroyers after getting the Tamara Johansen into position she simultaneously sent one wave to harass the destroyers while a second wave escorted the transport out of the system. After a tense battle Young could see she'd barely broken into a sweat despite the pressure. Then there was Brian Crystal, the navigator, a large stocky man he charted the Tamara Johansen throughout her tour of duty.

They were a fine crew and had accepted Young as well as the crew of the Harro'than who'd also managed to find roles aboard the Tamara Johansen. There was always some jobs available and they rose to the task gratefully. As for Young he'd tried to help where he could, he'd found a niche working with Burrows while she would concentrate on space battles Young would take some of the strain in planning the ground attacks, where the Nakai would control bunkers Young would order the drones on bombing runs to pound these defences in submission. At first Burrows seemed to resent this intrusion into her field of expertise, but she quickly came around after Young commanded several sorties with minimal casualties.

The two months however were up and Varro had called Young to his cabin to go over their next steps. They had been ordered back to Dapricord for repairs and maintenance. The crew of the Tamara Johanson, however had other ideas. The idea of a secret mission against the Collective led by their Captain and one of the Ancestors had gripped the crew and excitement had been building for weeks now.

# # #

Young came to Varro's cabin one evening. The two men had become firm friends during Young's time aboard. They would often reminisce about their time on Destiny and how they would celebrate once they'd enacted Eli's master plan.

The door slid open as Young hit the door chime. Being the Captain came with certain privileges. Varro's cabin was substantially larger than any of the others aboard. Rectangular, it contained plush furniture, entertainment systems and various ornaments from far flung exotic locations. His bed was at the far wall on a raised dias with another door on the adjacent wall leading to an equally extravagant bathroom.

Varro was already seated at his large table with a glass of wine and a computer console. A second glass stood on the table. Varro beckoned Young over and as the Colonel took his seat next to him he poured wine into the empty glass. Young took it and the two men clinked their drinks together.

'So tour's over.' Began Varro leaning back in his chair. Young nodded.

'Are you sure you're ready to go through with this?' He asked. Varrro smiled .

'Colonel, they were my crew too, however I came to join you.' Young said nothing and took a long draught from his glass.

Varro activated the console which projected a holographic, orange wireframe image of the Beijing system above the table. Various planets and stars floated along their predetermined orbits as the two men watched. One moon lit up green and expanded slightly.

'This is Nona.' A small unimportant moon orbiting the gas giant 'Zeus.' Young raised his eyebrows which Varro saw. 'Earth name?' he said. 'Earth Name' concurred Young. This had become a bit of a running joke between them.

'Nona is a pretty standard rocky moon, except that it doesn't have a breathable atmosphere or any life at all for that matter.' Varro continued before he was interrupted by Young. 'Which is pretty unusual for a moon with a Stargate on it.'

'Exactly, the original survey team deduced that it was once a very fertile jungle environment but Zeus migrated closer to the system's star a few thousand years ago, It fried the atmosphere and left it barren. This event probably buried the gate which is why when we've attempted to gate there it failed.' Varro was referencing an earlier attempt not long after Young had joined the crew.

'Perhaps that's why Eli chose it then.' Said Young.

'My thoughts exactly, now here's what we'll be facing.' Said Varro and with that he touch another control on his console. The holographic image zoomed in to Nona's star system populating the space over the table with 3 world's including the Zeus-Nona system which still glowed in a faint green light.

'There's an automated space station here at the edge of the solar system, which is used as part of The Collective's relay network. The nearest manned hub is less than 5 light years away which means that after we exit hyperspace there will be at least one Mothership on us within 15 minutes. Now if they follow procedure they'll give us a chance to explain ourselves which should give us at least another 10 minutes. 20 if I'm having a good day.' Varro grinned as he said this.

'Which means I need to be on a shuttle on the way to the surface almost as soon as we come out of hyperspace then.' 'Correct which leads us to our first really big problem.' Said Varro

'Where am I flying too?' Finished Young. Varro stroked his beard and thought.

'400 years ago this moon was the same dead rock it is today, which means that if Eli wanted you to come here he must have built some sort of sealed base. We should be able to search for a power signature.' 'But wouldn't the Collective have been able to find it if that was the case?' Asked Young. Varro shook his head.

'No one has scanned this moon since it was discovered. Why would they, this sector is off limits to anyone who doesn't have access to the Collective relay network, and why would they want to fly all the way in-system to scan a piece of dead rock that had a Stargate on it a few thousand years ago. In many ways it's the perfect hiding place. Eli probably got a kick out of stashing it right under their noses.'

'Agreed,' said Young. 'Now what about an exit strategy. Who knows what's down there and how long it will take me to find whatever it is that Eli wants me to find.' The two men sat in the cabin and thought occasionally taking sips from their respective wine glasses. Finally Young spoke

'If this Beijing sector was being used by the Collective even in Eli's day, then maybe Eli has already taken care of getting me back out. I mean he wouldn't expect me to bring an army with me. Eli always came through for us before after all.' Varro considered this.

'Maybe, but once you land on the surface I've got maybe 20 - 30 minutes to out talk or out run the Mothership they send. After that they will be authorised to attack me. Even if I can defeat another Mothership they'll send at least another 4. I'll need to retreat then and you'll have no way of getting out. Our shuttles don't have Hyperspace engines and I doubt I'll be in a fit state to jump back in after a tangle with the Collective's finest. Are you willing to risk your life on a maybe,'

'Eli never let me down before. He wants me to go to this moon, knowing full well where it is and what the dangers are. I have to believe his plan involves getting me out again.'

Varro shook his head, but a small smile crept over his face.

'Eli was a good man Colonel, I don't think I have the confidence you do, but I'm willing to back you as much as I can.'

'Thanks Varro, what are you going to tell the crew, there have been a few rumours but they might not like the idea of heading straight into a fight with their own people?'

'I've already thought of that one, in about a day's time we'll be within shuttle range of a Novun colony. I'll give everyone the chance to get out It'll take them a few hours to reach the colony so we'll have already hit Nona by the time they arrive. Means they can't use sub space communicators to warn the Collective we'e coming.'

Young was satisfied by this. He felt hope swell in his chest. Eli would have plan, he just knew it.

The business at hand over and done with, the two men began to reminisce again about their travels on the Destiny and of the Crew still suspended in stasis. If all went well Then maybe they could speak to them again, however many were left.

# # #

A day later and Young was stood on the bridge, outwardly he appeared as calm as always but inside he felt different. He'd woken that morning with a gnawing sensation in his gut, and a vague feeling of unease. He told himself that it was normal. He was heading to a hostile situation following the plan of a man who had died over 400 years ago. A bit of nervousness was completely normal.

Varro nodded to the comms officer, and spoke.

'All hands this is the Captain speaking. We have come out of Hyperspace because I am about to disobey my order to return the Tamara Johansen to Dapricord. As you all know, Colonel Young who joined our crew all those weeks ago cannot come to Dapricord he will be apprehended by the authorities who will want to "debrief" him. You and I know this will mean he will be detained against his will possibly for the rest of his life. I for one do not intend to let that happen. The Colonel has something waiting for him in the Beijing sector. Which means that not only will I be disobeying orders, but I will be taking us into restricted space. I can't promise you we'll come back out again. Even if we do there's a good chance we'll be arrested and put on trial for treason. I understand some of you have families and careers to worry about so, We'll be stopping here for the next hour, if you want to leave you can take shuttle to New Fairbanks, a colony world about 6 hours flight at sublight speed. I won't judge anyone who wants to leave and for what its worth, my report will state you protested strongly against my actions and that I forced you to get in the shuttle. After an hour we will be on our way again. That is all.'

Varro indicated to the comms officer to cut the connection. He and Young shared a glance as if to say, this is it no turning back now. Burrows gave a loud cough to get Varro's attention.

'Captain, we guessed something like this was going to happen. All the bridge crew are behind you and the Colonel Sir. Wherever you lead we'll follow.' Varro looked visibly moved by this sentiment and shook Burrows' hand to a round of applause from the crew.

The hour eventually passed and Varro turned to Craven

'Alex, how many are in the shuttle bay?' He asked. Craven looked into his console and slowly a grinned spread over his boyish face.

'Not a one Skip, looks like its not just us who are mad enough to follow you to Beijing, looks like the rest of the crew is as well.' Another round of applause broke across the bridge.

Varro sat back in his chair, and Young could swear he saw the man's eyes glisten at this vote of confidence.

'Lay in a course to Nona.' Commanded Varro then he turned to Young as the crew became suddenly busy at their consoles.

'You'd better get down to the shuttle bay Colonel. You'll want to launch the minute we exit Hyperspace.' Young shook Varro's hand.

'If I don't get another chance... Thanks... For everything.'

10 minutes later Young was sat in a shuttle waiting for the call to go. He leant back in the pilots chair and checked his safety straps again.

'I'm coming Eli,' he said closing his eyes calming his body down. 'I'm on my way.'

06/04/2012


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Young didn't have very long to wait he'd only just familiarised himself with the controls when he felt a lurch that could only mean they were exiting hyperspace. As if to confirm Varro's voice sounded over the radio.

'Colonel this is Captain Jacobs.' Varro had asked Young to keep his real identity from his crew, although Young suspected that some of them at least knew and kept up the charade out of loyalty to their Captain. 'You are clear to launch we'll start scanning the moon for signs of a power signature.'

Young fired the shuttles engines and felt the momentary G-force push him back into his chair as he left the Tamara Johansen, before the inertial dampeners kicked in and returned the pressure to normal. He arced his shuttle over the Tamara Johansen and made for the moon lit up on his HUD.

As a veteran of the SGC he'd seen many impressive sights but nothing could quite compare to the awesome majesty of approaching the gas giant Zeus. It filled his display, bigger than he thought anything could be, bands of purple and blue encircled the mighty planet, here and there the colours swirled together as massive storms larger than the Earth crashed beneath the upper atmosphere. Even at this distance Nona was still only tiny speck, only the green flashing receptacle of his targeting system allowed it to register to him.

He was only ten minutes into the flight when his radio crackled into life again. 'Colonel, we've got a reading, it's faint but I think it could be what you're looking for. I'm sending the data to your shuttle.' Said Varro. Young's HUD received the information and altered the target to the south pole of the moon. Young guided his shuttle in and flew over the flat smooth plains of the frozen wasteland. He didn't have long to wait as the sensors on his shuttle beeped into life and showed him a small building built into a rocky outcrop, which represented the only geographical feature for miles around, hell there was even a landing pad outside.

Young slowed the shuttle and landed neatly onto the pad. As soon as he did so an energy field encompass the vehicle, Young froze wondering what it could be, a beep from his sensors indicated a breathable atmosphere outside. Clever Eli, he thought.

Disembarking from the shuttle Young heard Varro's voice, heavy with static from his radio. 'Colonel come in. Looks like we've got some company, the Lisa Park has just dropped out of Hyperspace. We'll try to keep them busy, but if they detect that base down there they'll probably dispatch someone to have a look. Watch your back down there.' Young felt a momentary pang of sorrow as the image of Dr Park flitted across his mind. The poor woman was blind, what if she'd been released from her pod, alone, scared and in a world she couldn't even see? No time to think about that now. He raised the radio to his mouth. 'Roger that Captain, you guys stay safe up there.'

The door to the base was easy to open, a simple pad responded to his thumb print and slid open. Young ventured cautiously inside. As he had seen from above, the building was built into the rock which had very much become it's architecture. A single gangway ran from the entrance and led into a large cavern.

# # #

The cavern was roughly circular and gloomy. Wall lights set into the rock cast some room was filled with what appeared to be several banks of servers. Various lights flickered from inside their cases. On the far side of the room on a raised platform was a Stargate. Young smiled despite himself. Looks like Eli had already found him an escape route. He wondered why they hadn't been able to connect to this gate. Perhaps Eli had found a way of blocking incoming gate traffic.

In front of the gate was a single console as Young approached it a beam of light from ceiling to floor appeared, an image began to flicker inside the beam suspended between the two points. Blurry at first it then focused itself into the image of an old man.

It took Young a couple of seconds but then he realised. It was Eli! But Eli as an old man. He stood there open mouthed staring up at the apparition which looked down at him.

'Hello Colonel,' Eli said. 'Welcome to the last science project I'll ever do.'

'I can only imagine how many years have passed since I recorded this message till the day you stand there viewing it. As you can see it's been a few years since you last saw me. From my perspective I watched you get into that pod 58 years ago. I did manage to see you briefly about 10 years ago while I was a guest of the Mos family. Luckily one of the patriarch's younger sons was a student of mine at my university, it only took a little persuading for an invite to his family villa, I snuck down to their trophy room and there you were, not a day older than when I last saw you. No doubt you found the sticker I left for you, as here you are. This I'm sure you will agree is the ideal hiding place, I have wondered over the years whether you'd actually be able to get here, I have no doubt that the Collective will be keeping this place as much of a no-go zone as they do today. Even in the event of some revolution that opens this region of space, I carefully selected Nona as it's the most uninteresting lump of rock for a hundred light years, nobody in their right mind would give this place a second glance.

I suppose you're wondering what this machine behind me is? This Colonel is my Magnum Opus, the culmination of nearly 40 years of work and research. It is a machine designed for one purpose and one purpose only. To correct the mistake I made 58 years ago. This is a time machine! You may recall mission reports from SG1; Dr Samantha Carter also wrote a paper on the subject, hell we even experienced it ourselves. When you pass a wormhole through a solar flare that wormhole stops moving through space and instead moves through time. My time machine will hack the Collective subspace network and perform a real time survey of every star in range of the Stargate network. It will look for a flare that will bounce a wormhole back through time to the day before I first made contact with Melissa. The second part of the machine delivers a subspace disruption bomb through the wormhole. Sounds bad I know but it doesn't explode at all in our space, just subspace, and it'll blow with more power than our sun could put out in a hundred years. The explosion will be felt for a thousand light-years around. Subspace will be shattered and shredded for many, many weeks. The effect will be to completely wipe out any and all subspace communications; it would be like trying to whisper to someone across the room in a busy nightclub full to the brim, impossible. If you haven't guessed, this will prevent Melissa from ever contacting me. I will complete the repairs to the pod go into cryo sleep and we'll all wake up together after three years, and this future will have never happened. All you have to do is start the machine from the console behind me and my work will take care of the rest. Whether you wake up in five years or one thousand and five years, the only delay will be finding a star that has the exact magnitude of solar flare.

Now I can just picture you there Colonel and I know you have only one question on your mind. Why don't I activate the machine myself? A good question and in truth I'm ashamed at my answer. I don't want to. You may have only experienced this new society for a few days, or perhaps it's taken you years to get to this point. But I have lived here for 58 years Colonel I married; had children, they had children; I've lived a long and happy life. After I was removed from the Destiny I realised that only by turning back the clock could I atone for my mistake. Destiny was so badly damaged; they didn't look after her at all. Even if I could have found a way to get everyone out of their pods she would never have made the trip between the galaxies. But over the years I grew content, I've travelled all over this galaxy. You wouldn't believe the sights that we missed on our way through. I've watched alien civilisations in all stages of development, I've witnessed a star go supernova, and I've stood as a proud parent as my son graduated with first class honours from university. There are just too many happy memories for me to throw it all away now. I've been in this base for nearly a whole day now, and I've lost count of the number of times I've recorded this message, or decided to remove the control interface and prevent you from activating it. I'm not the same Eli you knew, in a way he died the day he lost the Destiny. But there is just enough of him that survived that will make me leave this machine here for you. I may have had a life here, but does that mean I can deny the rest of the crew the same. And yet, and yet I still can't bring myself to start the sequence and end it. So I leave it here for you Colonel, odds are I will be a long time dead by the time you watch this. But before you flip the switch make sure this is really what you want.

There is a life to be made here, perhaps others of the crew got out, relics change hands or could be accidentally be activated. Besides there was never any guarantee we would get to where Destiny was taking us. There could be far worse threats than the drones waiting for us, perhaps the other future has us all dying in some horrible way on some backwater planet and no one will ever find us. Here there is stability and promise for someone who can adapt. I will leave it to you Colonel either turn back the clock and restore us all to the Destiny or leave and find your own way in this galaxy. I give this decision to you. You were and always will be my Colonel.'

Young was gobsmacked as he listened to the apparition of Eli. The figure had finished speaking, he leant forward as if to press a button, flicked one more time and then he was gone leaving Young alone again in the control room.

He walked as if in a daze towards the control panel. True to Eli's word the interface was still there a small power on symbol pulsing slowly on the screen. Almost in a daze Young reached out and touched it. Lights immediately came to life and the machine began humming as it started up. The interface screen now displayed simple text which read. "Time displacement required 165,134 days: error margin plus 100 days. Do you wish to proceed? No further prompts available." Below this a button marked "Start."

So this is what it came down to. Eli had found the way but had lived a life he wasn't prepared to give up. He'd lost the faith. In a way Young to relate to that. His own life had been far from easy and the thought of a fulfilling home life with no danger appealed to a part of him, no doubt Eli stood on this very spot and had that final wrestle with his conscience. At least he hadn't rendered the machine unusable now he could finally end this nightmare and get back to the Destiny, or at least another version of himself could. He supposed that wiping out the past would erase the memory of this place from himself.

Then he heard a noise, only a little noise but one he was familiar with.

_Someone was there!_

He turned, his hand reaching for the sidearm he'd been given on the Tamara Johansen. Then there was the sound of a laser blast, he felt the burning pain in his stomach, smelt the burnt flesh and looked down at the wound. He'd been shot.

Numbness spread over his body and his legs gave way, he slumped down to a seating position in front of the console, his vision began to cloud, breathing was suddenly difficult and ragged. Looking up he made out three figures approaching him, the lead one was an officer of some sort judging by his smart uniform, a smoking pistol in his hand betrayed him as the shooter. When he spoke it was as if his voice was coming from a long way away.

'Colonel Young, I presume?' He said to the sound of mirth from his rifle armed companions. 'I'd heard reports that you'd surfaced, you've been causing a few headaches for the higher ups. I'll probably get a commendation for this. The dead should stay dead after all.' He indicated to the two soldiers and they grabbed Young under the arms and moved him away from the console. Consciousness started to slip away from Young as he was dragged a few yards away and was unceremoniously dumped onto the cold rock floor. Then the darkness came.

_Young runs through a field, the grass is tall and reaches easily to his knees, but he can run fast almost as if he can fly. Indistinct figures made of shadow are all around him but whenever he gets close they melt away into smoke. He is trying to find something as he runs this way and that, moving with incredible speed. His crew! They are there he can see them up the hill. He is so happy to see them he runs but something is wrong, he is slowing down, the grass which parted so easily wraps around his legs pulling him down. Every step is a battle. The crew beckon him, they need him to come they are lost without him. He tries to struggle further but he is barely moving now. He wants to give up, it's too hard. Then Rush is there._

'_I told you he couldn't do it.' He says in a final tone. 'It's beyond his abilities.' 'I can do it.' Shouts Young and tries again, this time the anger fuels him. 'I can do it.'_

Young's eyes flicked open again. He was lying on the rock floor still, he could hear a hushed conversation behind him, he'd passed out, how long for? The pain was incredible. Gingerly he moved a hand to his stomach, his fingers felt the burnt skin. No blood though, laser weapons were brutal but they cauterised the wound as soon as they made it. Nausea welled up in him, his legs felt like lead. The anger he'd felt in that strange dream resurged through him. How dare they just put him down like that? He dragged himself to his knees, his scrabbling hands found his own sidearm. The three men were crouched over the console of Eli's Time Machine, through the fog of pain Young fired his weapon. Shadows were etched suddenly on the dark rock face as brilliant bolts of red light flashed out and found their targets, the men fell to the ground laser blasts smoking from their fallen bodies.

Young struggled to his feet, trying to keep himself from crying out from the sharp stab of pain in his abdomen. He walked towards the console every step difficult, reaching it he was relieved to see the console still displaying the same message, a few wires had been pulled out no doubt these soldiers were trying to find a way to shut it down without permanently disabling it, he must have only been unconscious for a matter of minutes. His hand hit the start-up button and instantly the console started displaying text that had no meaning to Young, he caught a few words that he recognised; Solar Output, Search Cycle. The machine must have done its job and was now using the Collective relay to seek out a solar flare that would transport Eli's bomb 450 years into the past. Young was going home.

His elation was short lived however, as voices could be heard from the entrance to this cavern. Young turned and propped himself up by one of the server banks feeling the pain in his stomach grow even stronger, his vision was starting to tunnel again and he was suddenly wracked by a coughing fit that brought him to his knees. He felt liquid run down his chin and wiped it with his hand and saw it was blood. Not a good sign, he thought to himself. Clearly this laser wound was more serious than he thought.

The voices were louder now and with herculean effort Young got himself to his feet, just as he saw the first figure enter the cavern. Young fired his weapon sending laser blasts into the rock wall and causing the figure to dive for cover as dust and debris surrounded him.

Young managed a glance back at the console, still searching, he thought. Damn. Other men now came into the cavern drawn by Young's laser fire and they fired their own weapons. Bright red blasts slammed into the rocks and server banks of Eli's machine, thankfully their casings were designed to withstand that kind of punishment. Young with is back to one of the banks pointed his gun round the corner and fired blindly at his assailants. The cavern began to warm from the smoke and heat from the laser weapons. A few seconds of firing was suddenly replaced by calm and Young heard a voice call out.

'We know that's you Colonel Young, you are surrounded, there's no chance of escape. Why don't you put your gun down and we can see to that wound of yours?' Young coughed again splattering the server bank with more blood. He probably didn't have much longer left.

'You want me come and get me.' He called out to them and prepared himself for one last stand, he needed to buy more time for Eli's machine to do its work.

A renewed laser assault made him shrink against his cover as more laser blasts struck the rock and metal surrounding him. He made to return fire when he was hit again. A blast of sizzling red caught him in his exposed shoulder. Pain blossomed up from the limb and the force of it threw him to the ground face up. He could hear his shoulder burning and waves of pain emanated from his whole arm.

The soldiers ran along the gangway and stood over him with their guns pointed at him, Young looked for his own gun but it lay beyond his feet where he'd dropped it. 'Go see what that machine is for,' said the officer in charge. Two soldiers patted Young down for more weapons as the officer approached him.

'Colonel Young, a valiant effort, but ultimately for nought. I'm afraid your continued existence will raise too many questions.' He raised his pistol to Young's face.

Young looked the man in the eyes, determined to show no pain, no fear. Then suddenly the Stargate began to light up. 'Shut that down!' Commanded the Officer. Young glanced at the screen and smiled as he read the line. "Search Complete… Deploying SDB"

The Stargate activated illuminating the cavern with its pale grey light. A portion of the gangway slid open to reveal a large spherical object on the end of an extending pole. Before any of the soldiers could stop it, the pole extended towards the Stargate and delivered its payload. The Stargate deactivated once again returning them all to the weak light of the wall lamps.

Pain swelled up again in Young's stomach and he coughed again and felt his body pull itself into the foetal position.

Then everything went black.

# # #

_You're a good man Eli, you'll get this done, I'll see you on the other side.'_

And then the pod slid open. Young stepped out of his pod shivering from the process. He shook his head to clear it and looked around him; had it been three years already? He knew the cryo system would feel like an instant but even so it was a strange feeling. The pods on his section began to slide open as well. Young was gratified to see members of the crew step out alive and well. It appeared that the voyage had gone well.

Then the thought hit him. Eli! The malfunctioned pod had been a couple of bulkheads down. Young tore off out of the room and down the corridor that was starting to fill with awakened crew. He stepped into the room and saw the empty pod that should have contained Eli Wallace. His heart rate quickened. Eli hadn't been able to fix the pod in time.

'Hello Colonel.' Said an all too familiar voice. Young spun around to see the beaming face of Eli Wallace. Young pulled the young man into an embrace. 'I know you'd do it Eli.' He said feeling the relief flood through his body. They pulled apart leaving Eli a bit awkward, he rallied and replied 'Come on Colonel, was there ever any doubt.'

A few hours later and the crew were hard at work. Destiny had taken them to the edge of a new galaxy. Rush, who immediately having been released from his pod, went up to the bridge and in quick succession had located a planet on which to collect food supplies and a suitable Red Dwarf star that Destiny could replenish its power reserves. So here they were, Destiny in orbit around the planet. Scans had shown very Earth like conditions, dense jungles covered most of the planet's surface. A group was even now heading back to Destiny on the shuttle with a hold full of fruits and berries that should be able to sustain them for the next few weeks as they made their way through this galaxy.

Young had called the command staff to the canteen to collect their thoughts. There was Rush, looking as dour as ever. Lieutenant Scott his hands intertwined with Chloe Armstrong's, Camille Wray and Eli Wallace completed the group. Their conversation was light hearted as they confirmed the state of the destiny and the morale of the crew. Once everyone was settled back in they would use the stones to send word back to Earth that they'd made it, safe and sound.

'So Eli,' said Scott during a break in conversation. 'You really only had two weeks to fix the cryo pod with no one to help? Weren't you scared you wouldn't find a way?' Eli was full of mock bravado. 'Are you kidding, ticking clock, life or death situation. That's when I'm at my best. I am Math-boy after all.' He said to the laughter of the group. 'There was one strange moment though,' he said, his face becoming a bit more serious. The day before I got in my pod I was running some last minute diagnostics when I noticed Destiny couldn't see any of the nearby Stargates. Usually there's a subspace signal keeping them connected. Anyway I ran some scans and subspace for like hundreds of light-years around was all...' He struggled for a word. 'Scrambled. It's hard to explain it's as if there was a huge bomb but it blew in subspace instead of real space. I've never heard of anything like it.' He shrugged his shoulders and chalked it up to yet another mystery the Universe had flung at them.

Once the ground team was aboard Destiny's FTL drive kicked into life and hurtled the ship out of the solar system to continue their journey. Everyone aboard was in high spirits there was a feeling that the worst of their problems were behind them and they were ready for the mission at hand.

Wherever it may take them.

**THE END.**


End file.
